Obsession
by Herpalerp
Summary: While trying to uncover motives of "the Hand of Destiny," Chase and the gang stumble upon an even bigger plot. One that involves a certain monsuno, and the monsuno sight. AU because takes places after "Frenenmies."
1. Chapter 1

Summary:

While trying to uncover motives of "the Hand of Destiny," Chase and the gang stumble upon an even bigger plot. One that involves a certain monsuno, and the monsuno sight.

AU because takes places after "Frenenmies."

A/N: Enjoy!

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><p>"Ugh. Why does it have to be so hot here!" Bren said, slumping as he walked along.<p>

"It's only been ten minutes since we left the forest, Bren. I'd imagine you could man up for a few minutes," Jinja remarked.

"Easy for you to say," Bren started, and smirked, "It's as hot as your head out here." Jinja turned with a ferocious look.

"What was that?!"

Chase's attention to his group was long gone, however, as he continued to walk forward. His dad had sent the small group out to collect samples of monsuno energy levels, saying it would only take a day or so. They had only gotten to the desert, but it would be at least another hour or so before they got to the point.

Chase continued to walk forward, half listening to his friends talking (or in Bren and Jinja's case, fighting). It was almost relaxing when compared to all the other battles they faced in the past few weeks. All things concerning S.T.O.R.M., Dr. Klipse, and the Hand of Destiny seemed so far away when doing an activity that was so mundane.

It almost reminded him of long ago when he used to be a whole family with his mother and father.

Chase slowed his pace a little at that last thought. As much as he loved having his father back in his life, he was still missing his mother, and it had only gotten worse with the constant visions he would have of her. But she had gone missing long ago, there was no way she could be guiding him this whole time...

"Oi! Baby Suno!" Dax shouted. Chase turned around. He must've quickened his pace at the last moment without realizing it, because everyone was now at least twenty paces away.

"Oh. Sorry. Lost in thought. Was there something you wanted?" Chase asked. Dax rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. We've been at it all day now. And I don't think you've noticed, but everyone could use a break," Dax said, tilting his head towards the others. Chase immediately looked all around them, seeing nothing but sand and desert for miles. By the time he turned completely around, everyone had caught up and were drinking heavily from their water bottles.

"Sorry Dax. But I don't see anywhere for us _to_ take a break," Chase shrugged, "I'm sure we're almost to the meeting point. Isn't that right B?"

"Wha-" Bren spluttered as he spilt water all over his front, "Oh. Hold on." He took out the core tablet, and after a few clicks, he frowned.

"Sorry Chase. I can't seem to get a signal out here," Bren said, and started to tap away at the screen.

"That's okay. Beyal, can you see anything with your-" Chase stopped as soon as he saw the far away look that Beyal was giving. Not really looking at anything in particular, and most likely in the middle of some sort of vision. After a moment, his eyes blinked back to normal.

"uh... Earth to Beyal. Did you see anything?" Chase asked. Slowly, Beyal looked up, but shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. Though I did sense a... disturbance in energy not to far from here," he replied, trailing off at the end. Jinja, who was next to him, gave Chase a worrying look.

"I'm sure it's probably fine," Chase waved his hand around, "According to my dad, we only have to go a few miles out into the desert before we get to the point."

They spent a few more minutes walking across the sand dunes, which started to look extremely similar after a while. The only difference was how distant the jungle trees behind them became. Chase could feel sweat rolling down his face in bucket loads. When he turned around, everybody wasn't doing to well either.

"I spy with my little eye-" Bren said, "Something starting with s."

"Oh let me guess. It's sand right?" Jinja said sarcastically, "Like all the past five times."

Bren gave a frown before coming to a halt, looking over everybody, "Actually, no."

Chase noticed the surprise in his tone, and turned around. "What is it, B?"

Bren pointed forward, and when they all looked there was something on the horizon. It was small and black at the moment, but was moving across the desert to their left.

"What is it?" Jinja asked, squinting.

"... It kind of looks like S.T.O.R.M.," Chase said, "Bren, do you know if there's a base around here?" Bren was tapping on the core tablet and furrowing his brow.

"I still can't get a signal out here. It's like there's something blocking it," Bren said, "Or it's just a big dead zone out here."

Chase bit his lip. Now they couldn't tell how far to go, or even if they were heading in the right direction.

"Well... Since they're not heading our way, I suppose we should just keep going," he said, and continued to walk. He only took five steps before he found himself slipping down one of the dunes. He let out a yelp before hitting the bottom.

"Chase! You all right?" Jinja exclaimed. Chase brushed the sand out of his hair before turning back.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" He shouted, "Just slid down a small-" He stopped when he found himself staring up at everyone.

'I guess the fall was larger then I though.'

"Hold on! We're coming down!" Bren shouted. Chase continued to look around, and found that he was standing in the a large depression in the sand. There were also rocks instead of sand, as he moved to the middle, and soon he was looking down a large pit in the ground.

"Whatcha find Baby Suno?" Dax asked. Chase bent down to look inside, but it got dark after a few feet down.

"Not sure. But I have a feeling its what my dad was looking for," he said, standing back up, "He did say we would know it when we saw it."

"Well maybe we should send someone down, just to make sure," Jinja said. They heard Bren give out a yelp as he slid down, and all turned to him.

"Ah! I hate sand!" he groaned, and looked up, "... So what are we doing?" Jinja turned to Chase with a mischievous smirk.

HLP

"_Is it almost ready?"_ A voice purred in the dark. The only light within the large cavern was from the light being reflected off of the pool in the middle. The distant sound of water trickling echoed throughout the place.

"_Only a few more minutes and the barrier will finally come down,"_ another voice said as five figures stood close by the edge of the water, "_The second it does, we will only have a moment before it escapes. We must make haste when it does."_

The pool continued to shimmer, and soon it was lighting the entire pool on it's own. One of the figures soon had a twisted smile appear on their face, eyes lighting up at the reaction.

"_Petros will be proud to know that we will have finally succeeded."_

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><p>AN: Review Review Review


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Rewrote this chapter since it was the weakest out of the first few chapters (to be fair though, this one wasn't thought through the first time)

Enjoy!

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><p>"Chaaaase! Why do I have to be the one to go down?" Bren whined as they continued to lower him into the hole. They strapped a rope around him like a harness, though that did little to comfort him. It kept getting darker and darker as they let the rope drop more.<p>

"Because-uh!... Bren... Your... The lightest!" Chased huffed out, trying to keep a firm grip on the rope. It was an overstatement considering how they were all desperately trying to hold on.

"Why couldn't you send Jinja down? Or Beyal?" Bren continued to complain, his voice echoing up to them. In all honesty, it would've been easier to send someone lighter down, but since Bren was the only one who could manage the Core Tablet he was the one getting shoved into the hole.

"You know how much I don't like cold, dark, cramped spaces!" Bren continued to grumble. He brought the Core Tablet up, pushing a few buttons until a decent amount of light was shining around. He frowned when he was still looking at the walls, despite being a good ten feet down from everyone. He looked down and could see the ground a few feet below, and the hole widening out.

"I think I see the bottom now!" Bren called out, "It looks like its a cave or something. Can you guys lower any more?"

"...Geh! I don't think so!" Chase shouted. "Do you see anything down there?"

Bren frowned at the wall, "No. If you could lower me one more-"

A small bit of light crept through a crack in the wall. Bren tried to look through, but the hole was too small. He started to chip away at the wall, crumbling in small shards at first and then quickly becoming large chunks.

"... Bren? You see something?"

"Yeah! There's this light but I can't see anything. The hole's too small," Bren replied. He continued to poke at it until his hand could fit through, "... I can't see what it is though! The light's really bright!"

Above, Jinja gave Chase a look. "Why would there be light in a cave?"

"Don't know," He responded, and turned back to the hole, "Can you see where the light is coming from?!"

"... No... Maybe if I-woah!"

Bren's weight had suddenly shifted, and they were all yanked forward into the hole. Their screams echoed throughout as they hit the ground. It wasn't very far down, but that didn't mean it wasn't painful.

"Ow ow ow..." Jinja said, turning to punch Bren in the shoulder, "Why'd you pull us down, Bren!"

"Agh! It's not my fault! The light got really bright," Bren mumbled. Chase managed to pull himself out from everyone, suddenly realizing where they were. It was a cavern with all kinds of stones glittering as light shined in the distance. He could vaguely make out the silhouettes of a group of people a couple of yards away. He heard footsteps, and turned to see Beyal looking at the strange light.

"There's something wrong about the air in here," he said, "it is as if pure monsuno energy is in the air itself."

Chase took a few steps forward, and could vaguely see as the light started to distort. Suddenly, he heard someone shouting at them.

TDR

"_Who's over there?_" one of the voices said quickly. There was a short silence before one of the other figures cursed.

"_It's that Suno boy. The one that Petros is looking for," _They said with a sneer. The last thing they needed was their plans to be disrupted by that reckless boy. Especially now that they were seconds away from achieving their goal.

"_Don't worry about him,_" a calm voice said, "_I'll take care of him and his friends. As long as we capture it, he won't matter for much longer."_

One of the figures moved away towards Chase and his group, eyeing them like prey. Slowly, he reached down into his pocket, and clenched onto the core between his fingers. This time, they were going to succeed.

GDM

"Can you see who they are?" Jinja asked, trying to look as well.

"Yeah, for all we know it could be someone from S.T.O.R.M., or even Dr. Klipse and his creepy butler," Dax added. Chase took a few steps forward, but stopped when he saw one of the people move their way towards the rest of them.

"Who are you and what are you doing down here?!" They asked in a stern voice that echoed throughout the room. "Don't you know this area is a restricted section?"

"Sorry. But we were just looking for the exit," Chase said, taking a step forward. For the most part, he didn't recognize the voice as anyone they had met so far. Either that or it was S.T.O.R.M. soldiers doing Charlemange's dirty work.

"Y-yeah!" Bren piped, "So If maybe you could direct us towards-"

"LAUNCH!" A core suddenly came spinning right at them. Chase had his hand on Locke's core at the time, however, and spun out as well.

"Locke, Launch!" He shouted and ran a few feet ahead of everyone else, "Stay there guys!"

Within a second of hitting the other core, Locke appeared in a burst of blue light, and gave out a roar that shook the whole cavern. The other core on the other hand was lying dully at Locke's feet...

"Wait! Where's the other one?" Bren asked, frantically looking around. There was now burst of light from the other core, and it laid dully on the ground. The person suddenly let out a howl of laughter.

"You didn't think I actually _had_ a monsuno did you?" They said, and let out another round of laughter before the whole cavern was enveloped in white light.

HLM

Jeredy Suno leaned back and cracked his spine, and sighed in relief. For the past two days he was trying to find the location of the unknown spike of monsuno essence that had appeared. Unfortunately for him, it was gone as quick as it came.

His eyes lingered on the screen for a moment before he let out an exhausted sigh. It was a map of the whole world with little dots clustering in many places, signaling areas with large concentrations of monsuno energy.

"I wonder if Chase made it to the point yet," he finally said, tapping a few keys. He looked over to see Jon Ace, standing still inside the glass case. He had yet to find a cure still, but was determined to find the cure. That was one of the reasons he sent Chase out to search for this new outbreak of monsuno essence.

"I think this will be it Jon," Jeredy said, "If we can get a hold of even a sample of this energy, then maybe I can find gene that can change you back. For all we know, it could pop out of nowhere-"

Like a signal, the screen started blinking over in the desert area of the Sahara. Jeredy gasped, knowing that was in the area that Chase last called from. He furiously tapped away, trying to locate the signal, when Jon suddenly let out a roar.

"Jon! What is it?" He exclaimed jumping to his feet. Jon started to thrash about in the case, but it managed to hold up. Jeredy's gaze went back and forth between the blaring computer and Jon desperately trying to get out of the container. Soon, it had started to crack.

"Jon, you have to calm down!" Jeredy said steadily. He banged on the glass wall, trying to get his attention. Finally, Jon looked up with a glare. Jeredy gasped. Before, Jon's eyes were a piercing red, now they were emanating a green color.

Slowly, the beeping from the computer grew silent, and his eyes went back to normal. Jon slumped to the bottom of the case with a thud, leaving Jeredy staring down at him with wide eyes. Throughout the time he had been trying to find a cure for Jon, Jeredy had seen the worst of the effects of the monsoon essence. Green eyes wasn't one of them.

Not knowing what to do, he merely gave once last look at the screen, seeing the last of the tremors die out. He didn't get the reading because of Jon, but it seemed like that was the least of his worries. Sighing, went to the back to get something to patch up the cracks in Jon's containment unit, knowing that Chase was most likely in the dead center of whatever just happened.

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><p>AN: Review Review Review!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Chapter was supposed to upload yesterday, but didn't for some reason. Anyway, enjoy!

HLM

The light was blinding for a few seconds, and even the cavern seemed to quake at it. Slowly, Chase managed to open his eyes enough to see the small group of people running and shouting yards away from them.

"Chase! What's going on!" Jinja shouted. They were all standing back, but the light was just as blinding because of the crystals in the rocks. Before he could answer, the person in front of him started to laugh again.

"This-" they said holding their arms out, "Is the reprise of the Hand of Destiny!"

Chase's eyes widened at the name, despite all the light.

"The Hand of Destiny?" he repeated with uncertainty. The Hand of Destiny had been active for a while now, and it was clear that whatever they were doing revolved around monsuno sight and essence. Was this their big plan to take over the world?

There was a loud 'POP!' and the white light started to turn black, still emitting from the center of the cavern. The two colors were now shooting out from one place behind the person. The second it happened, the person turned around quickly to the others.

"_What's going on_?!" They exclaimed. One of the other figures turned.

"_It's too unstable! We need to abort the mission!"_

There were more flashes of light, and the air had a sudden change. It became cold and frigid. A deafening screech was heard, causing them all to grip their ears.

Beams of light continued to shoot out, hitting all directions. Eventually, the ceiling and stone bearings started to give out.

"What did you do?!" Chase shouted. The person bit their lip. It was now or never.

They rushed forward, charging right up to the Suno boy. Chase stumbled backwards in surprise, and before the person could reach him, Locke was in front, and swung its paw out before letting out a roar at the hooded person. They ducked, and looked straight at Chase. He gaped when he saw their eyes, which seemed to be _glowing_ blue, hypnotically.

Chase felt captivated by the look, and everything seemed to fade away as he stared into them, as if there was a deep abyss beyond them, and staring into them just drew him in more and more.

Suddenly, it was gone. And everything went to black.

MDL

"Chase! We have to get out of here!" Bren shouted. They all stood a few feet away as Chase was now staring down the hooded person from before.

"Chase! Over here!" Jinja shouted. Before any of them could move, Locke let out another roar. Suddenly, a beam of white light shot out from the center of the room.

They all watched as it zoomed towards the hooded figure, as if to hit them. Instead, the person vanished in a puff of black smoke.

And the beam went straight into Beyal. All eyes widened as he let out a small gasp before collapsing to the ground.

"Beyal!" Jinja yelled, and ran over to him. The cavern quaked, and sunlight finally started to shine through the ceiling as sand poured through. At this rate, they were going to be buried alive.

"We have to get out of here!" Dax shouted. Bren turned and nodded, but then saw a flash in the corner of his eye. It was then that he noticed the glowing eyes staring out at them from afar.

"Dax look out!"

A monsuno leaped out and dashed forward at them. Dax had managed to get a hold of Boost's core before throwing it towards the beast.

"Boost, launch!"

Boost came out in a blue light, and stopped the monsuno from advancing. Both Dax and Bren could see that it was a strange combination of a tiger's head, the body of a jackal, and a curved tail like a lizard. It bit and thrashed about as Boost griped tighter with its own claws.

Bren couldn't see anyone else around, but saw Chase now on the ground, Locke protecting him from the falling rocks. He looked back to Jinja, who was now holding onto the unconscious Beyal. There was another flash, and Bren was staring down another monsuno as it creeped around the three of them.

"Jinja get down!"

It finally pounced, and Bren pushed the two of them to the ground. The monsuno was fast, and was soon standing above the three of them with white eyes. Jinja let out a scream before the beast roared down at them.

GLP

Chase slowly sat up after a scream rang through his ears. He wasn't sure how long he had zoned out, but when he looked around, everything was in all disorder. The people from before were now long gone, leaving Team Core Tech in the middle of the collapsing cavern. Boost was now engaged in battle with another monsuno, while everyone else was now under another, about to become its next meal. Wasting no time Chase, got to his feet and gave a look to Locke, who seemed to nod.

"Locke, take it out!"

The other monsuno instantly turned to the two of them, and let out a hissing screech. Locke charged forward, and both were wrestling ferociously. Chase watched the beast, which was like a mountain lion with crystal porcupine quills sticking out of its back, as it bit, scratched, and clawed at Locke. It was uncoordinated and fierce, and soon had Locke pinned to the ground.

"Chase!" Bren said, running up to him, "We have to get out of here! The cave is collapsing!"

Chase nodded, "Make us an exit!"

Bren took a hold of Neo-Quickforce's core.

"Neo-Quickforce! Launch!"

After it appeared, it didn't take long for Neo-Quickforce to burst through the ceiling, leaving them in a cloud of dust. Chase gave one last glance at Locke, who managed to flip the other monsuno around, before running over to the others. He could make out Dax and Jinja's outlines a small distance away and ran up to her.

"Jinja! We gotta go!" He shouted. He couldn't see her face among the dust, but he could feel her eyes linger on him. She stood, and held out a core.

"Skyfall, launch!"

Chase didn't bother with telling them where to go. It was obvious: out.

"Bren! Let's go!"

"Neo-Quickforce!" He shouted, and felt the ground next to him quake. He could see his monsuno bend low so he could climb on. Without a second thought, he hopped on, Chase right after him.

"Locke!"

"Boost!"

"Return!"

Both Neo-Quickforce and Skyfall darted out of the dust and remaining ceiling into the desert sky. Below, the sand had finally consumed the remains of the cavern, and left nothing but mounds of sand in its place. Nothing was said as they watched for a moment, expecting something to happen or appear. Finally, the two monsuno climbed out of the sand. they spotted the group hovering above, and started to lurk below them.

"Now where do we go?" Bren asked as they slowly eased away from where the cavern once was. It was obvious that that was where Dr. Suno wanted his readings from, but whoever those people were from before had gotten to it first. And whatever they did certainly wasn't going to be good.

Chase thought for a moment. Everything happened so fast, and it was hard to tell what to do next. They could always head back and try to find out what those people were after, but then those monsuno weren't looking too friendly. Their eyes, even from far away, had a murderous glint. Even Locke had trouble fighting one off.

Still, what that person said before was unnerving. The Hand of Destiny was no doubt plotting something, and it was going to take all their efforts to defeat them. Especially if he ever wanted to see his mother again...

"Far," Chase said, and turned to look at Bren with a serious look, "Head into the desert. We need to try to lose them so we can go back and investigate."

"Chase are you crazy!" Jinja shouted, "The last thing we need is to be doing is going back to those crazy monsuno! We should just get out of here while we can."

"Our monsuno don't have enough time to get us to the edge back into the forest," Chase said. In truth, he really did want to leave. Something in the back of his mind was telling him to turn and go back to his father with the readings, even if they didn't manage to get them all. "Besides, if those people were really from the Hand of Destiny, we need to be prepared for whatever they are planning."

Chase continued to look ahead of them as Neo-Quickforce increased its speed a little. Bren gave a look back to the others. Jinja was looking furious and flustered (probably from the attack), while Dax sat behind her, holding onto Beyal who was still out cold. Sighing, Bren turned back to Chase.

"So... Where are we going exactly?" he asked after a moment.

"… Well actually," Chase said a turned around with a sheepish look, "I have no idea."

"Eh?! But what about finding out about those people?" Bren asked.

"Well… I thought maybe you would know where to look since you have the Core Tablet," Chase said. Bren grumbled a little, and took out the tablet. The map appeared for a brief moment, but soon went to static.

"Ugh. Stupid thing," he mumbled, "Sorry Chase. I still can't get a signal. I saw something a little East of here, but I'm not sure how long before we get to it."

Chase sat in silence for a moment. The cavern was so large, that it probably had more then one entrance. Whatever landmark was closest would probably lead down to it, or even lead them to those people. As much as he wanted to stay and search the area directly instead of blindly looking, they needed to find cover from the other monsuno.

"Alright, lead the way Bren. I'll go down with Evo and try to take out those monsuno from the air," Chase said, taking out Evo's core, "Once I do, I'll try to search the area and meet up with you guys later."

"Yeah, but there's just one problem," Bren said, looking down.

"What's that B?"

"Those monsuno are gone."

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><p>AN: a few things. One: this started out as a one-shot, that grew into a full story. Which is why the first few chapters are very condensed. Not used to writing beginnings.

Two: This was supposed to take place after season two, but after seeing where it ended, I decided to pull it back to the last episode aired in the United States (Frenemies/ episode 44). This caused a bunch of revisions and such, again, making these first few chapters short. After this chapter, the story gets back on track.

Three: Review Review Review! (I update more with reviews)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to KaluaTheRathling for the reviews. You get one last update for the weekend.

Enjoy!

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><p>"They're gone?!" Chase exclaimed, turning to see for himself. There was no sign of the monsuno, nor any remains of where the cavern once was. Chase looked lower to see Jinja leading Skyfall along behind them. Dax was behind her, with Beyal between them, still unconscious. None of them seemed to have noticed that the monsuno had vanished, and were out of earshot of Chase and Bren.<p>

"Where the heck did they go so fast?" Chase muttered, too quiet for Bren to hear. He bit his lip in thought,'Where did they even come from? That hooded guy from before clearly didn't possess any monsuno. And the rest of them were long gone when those monsuno had appeared...'

"Hey Chase," Bren said, stirring Chase from his thoughts, "Those monsuno... They were different then normal ones. And I don't just mean how powerful they were."

'That's right. Their attacks were uncoordinated, and unpredictable. Almost as if there was no controller,' Chase thought, '... But that's impossible. There's no monsuno out there that could survive out of its core for a long time. Except Locke...' He looked down at Locke's core, feeling the buzzing energy inside. Locke was still antsy since being called back, and for a good reason too.

'We need answers. Too many to count...'

Chase looked up, "Bren. Turn around, we need to find that cave again."

"What?! Has the heat finally gotten to your brain?" Bren exclaimed, "Chase. There's nothing out here but desert, and I'm pretty sure we're not going to see anything _but_ desert as well. I doubt we're going to find that spot again now that's its buried under all this sand."

"I know B. But we have to try. The only way we'll ever find out about the Hand of Destiny is to find out what they were doing there," Chase reasoned. That wasn't quite true. There was a feeling prickling in the back of his mind that made his feel uneasy as they flew farther away, and he could tell Locke was feeling the same way.

Chase sighed and looked back out to the desert. For a brief moment, he thought he saw someone standing in the distance. Much like in the mountains to the Cave of Convergence, it was like a vision that flashed before him. He could see _her_ standing far away.

Within seconds, Chase was entranced by a string of visions of the cavern from before. It was large, pools of water everywhere as moonlight came down from a single hole in the ceiling. He went closer, and could see her standing in the middle, turning slowly back to him. She said something, but he couldn't hear it, and before he could call out there was a hand on his shoulder.

"Chase? You okay?" Bren asked. Chase blinked slowly, looking at Bren then behind them. She was gone. "… Chase?"

"I… I think I saw something," he muttered, taking a hand to his eyes. What was she trying to say to him? A message? A warning? He looked up to Bren with a serious look.

"I think I saw my mother."

HLD

"How's he doing Dax?" Dax didn't look up, and was focus on the white-haired teen in his arms. Beyal hadn't stirred, and seemed to be asleep for the most part. His cheeks were a little flushed, but they were all looking that way from the intense sunlight, especially since they had been flying for a good few minutes.

"I can't really tell. He seems alright," Dax said, and looked up, "What the heck happened back there princess?"

"... I'm not sure. Those monsuno came out of nowhere," She said, and turned around, "and it looks like they're gone just as fast." Dax looked back and gasped. There was no trace of the two monsunos, not even any tracks. It was as if they vanished with the wind.

"I've never seen anything like them," Jinja continued, shuttering a little, "They were so... Vicious. It didn't seem like they even wanted to fight Locke back there."

"You're right. They seemed more interested in tearing us to shreds," Dax agreed. The monsuno that Boost had fought with had tried desperately to get at Dax throughout the fight, paying little attention despite Boost's attacks. Only rogue monsuno acted that way, attacking everything in sight and not hesitating in the least bit. Except S.T.O.R.M. would usually be the first few people to spring on the idea of new monsuno up for the taking.

"Who do you think they belong to?" Jinja asked.

Dax thought for a moment. The fact that they had no familiar colors also confirmed his suspicions about them being rogue. Dr. Suno's monsuno were blue. Charlemange and S.T.O.R.M.'s were yellow. Madea and Dr. Klipse had red. Dr. Tallis and the punk monks had orange. Last, the Hands of Destiny had green.

But these monsuno... They had no color at all.

"I don't think they belong to anyone," Dax said. Jinja turned and gave him a confused look. "Well... I don't think that any of the people we met would let monsuno roam free. They would be more interested in keeping those ones for themselves."

"Dax, monsuno don't just go-" Jinja started, but was interrupted by Beyal, who finally started to stir. His eyes slowly opened, and blinked slowly.

"How ya feeling Monkfish?" Dax asked, and Beyal sat up. He held his head, and swayed a bit.

"... Tired..." He muttered, blinking slowly. A flash of gentleness was in Jinja's eyes for a moment before she turned forward.

"Chase! How much farther are we?" She called out. He didn't respond. Bren noticed she was trying to get his attention, and looked between the two of them. He tried to give her a reassuring look, that mostly came off as a shrug. She frowned and clicked her tongue, and Skyfall suddenly lurched forward to catch up with Neo-Quickforce.

"Woah! Princess slow down!" Dax shouted, trying to keep a firm grip on both Skyfall and Beyal as they both almost fell off. When they were finally a bit ahead of Neo-Quickforce, Jinja started to slow them down. Dax noticed she had been getting more on edge lately, and it didn't help that baby Suno was being equally oblivious at the moment.

"Chase! You better say something or else-"

A blast silenced whatever Jinja was about to say. A gust of wind nearly knocking the three of them out of the sky in a bright orange flash.

And suddenly Neo-Quickforce was going down.

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><p>AN: Review Review Review!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thanks to Glowblade998, SilverZinogre, ChasexJinjaforever, and the guest user for the reviews.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Both Chase and Bren shouted out when Neo-Quickforce started going down from the unknown blast. A shadow swooped above them all, but went unnoticed as Chase and Bren continued to plummet to the ground.<p>

"Chase! Bren!" Jinja shouted out. Neo-Quickforce tried to straighten out, but was hit by another blast. Chase managed to get Evo's core out and throw it. It hit Neo-Quickforce's claw before it finally disappeared in a flash of blue light.

Evo dove out of the blue light and caught both of them before they hit the ground.

"Ah! That was too close," Chase panted, he turned to Bren, whose hair stuck up wildly as he sat up, "You okay, B?"

"Sure. As fine as a guy could be," Bren huffed, straightening his glasses. He blinked and suddenly pointed frantically in front of them. "Punk Monks twelve o'clock!"

Chase turned around to see Drezz and his crew in the flesh, four more monsuno's standing by. Fifty feet behind them was a cliff, dipping into the sand that most likely lead down to a canyon. Afterburn was hovering above them, forcing Evo to approach the ground. Chase and Bren both leapt off a few feet away.

"Out of the way Punk Monks. We don't have time to mess around today," Chase announced. Drezz chuckled at the remark.

"It's not you we're after today, Suno," he said, "We're just here for some information."

"And to deliver a message," Throttle added, her lips curling into a smirk. Chase exchanged looks with Bren. Skyfall had yet to land, and the others were still airborne. The other four monsuno were keeping them from getting any closer, and looked prepared to blow them out of the sky if necessary. Chase turned back to the Punk Monks.

"Alright then. What do you wanna know?" Chase asked. Drezz put his hands in his pockets and looked at Chase with a serious look.

"We hear there was a spike in monsuno energy, one of the biggest in years," he said, "Apparently it has some special properties that could further the doctor's research. We were told that _you_ know where it is. And as you know, the professor is vastly interested in all things monsuno."

Chase pretended to think for a moment. "I can't say I know," he said shrugging, and pointed backwards, "Although there were some rogue monsuno's back that way if you want to see. Though I'm sure S.T.O.R.M. would be happy to fight you for them."

"Rogue monsuno? Has the heat gotten to your head boy?" Tinker remarked. Drezz held his hand up to silence them.

"As much as I enjoy your jokes, we're in a hurry. You sure you don't know anything about it?" Drezz asked, and snapped his fingers. Immediately, Afterburn edged closer to Skyfall and the others, "'cause we can help persuade you if necessary."

"What're you-"

Both Afterburn and Skyfall let out shrieks. Chase and Bren both turned to see the dragon-like monsuno taking a hold of the other as everyone dangled dangerously off the side. The other monsuno took off after them and were lurking below, waiting for them to fall.

"W-wait! Stop!" Chase shouted. Drezz looked back to his crew, who had their monsuno back off a little. Afterburn continued to hold onto Skyfall, and Chase's eyes lingered on the rest of Team Core Tech before he turned back. Drezz smirked, and held out a small USB drive.

"From Dr. Tallis."

"... What is it?" Chase asked, turning it in his fingertips.

"Not sure. We weren't allowed to see what the doctor put on it," Drezz said, "And I'm sure it has more to do with those crazy kooks that called themselves 'the Hands of Fate' or whatever they're called. All I know is that you better start talking. Otherwise your little friends will be toast."

Chase slipped the jump-drive into his pocket, his eyes lingering on the ground. What was he supposed to say? Clearly the Punk Monks had little information about the Hand of Destiny, so telling them about what happened in the cavern would be useless. And the only possible effects they would've seen would be the cavern collapsing and those monsuno appearing out of nowhere, but even then it wouldn't be the information they were looking for.

"…Well Suno?"

Chase licked his lips nervously, "If you call off your monsuno, we'll show you the readings we got from the monsuno essence an hour ago."

Drezz hesitated for a brief moment, debating whether to trust Chase or not.

"Uh… Chase," Bren whispered, leaning over to Chase. "We never got those readings, remember?"

"Yeah I know, but we just need to _show_ them something," Chase said, "Try to bring up whatever you can."

GDL

"Wh-what's going on down there?" Dax asked as they all continued to hang onto Skyfall's talons. It was an awkward angle to see what was going on, especially with the monsuno moving every other second.

"Ugh... Can't tell!" Jinja said, trying to maneuver around. Afterburn's tail would keep swishing through the air and kept getting in the way of watching what was going on. The other monsuno below them were also watching, but kept their distance for the time of being.

"It looks like Drezz gave Chase something," Jinja said, squinting down at the group.

"Really? What'd he give?" Dax asked, trying to look over as well

"Well. If I could _see_ from here I'd tell you," Jinja huffed out annoyed. Dax suddenly smirked.

"Can't help it if you're big head gets in the way," he said. Jinja's ears turned red, and she looked back with a furious look.

"Oh you and Bren are so dead when this is all over! If it weren't for Beyal being between us I would've-"

Beyal, who remained silent the whole time, suddenly noticed something in the air. Ever since he woke up there was a strange presence, as if they were being watched by someone. From the corner of his eyes he swore he saw a monsuno appear and then disappear, but there were no monsuno that had that ability as far he knew. There was also a faint ringing in his ears that seemed to be getting steadily louder, almost making his head spin...

"-and that's the last thing you'd want," Jinja finished.

"Sure thing princess," Dax said rolling his eyes. "Oi, I think something's going down over there."

All their attention went back to Chase and Bren, who were now talking to each other. After a moment, Bren walked over to Drezz, showing him something on the Core Tablet. Whatever he showed didn't make Drezz happy. Bren turned back to Chase, and as they kept speaking, Drezz seemed to be getting more annoyed.

_"__...Beyal..."_

_"_Huh? Did you say something Dax?" Beyal asked, only to get a weird look from Dax. Beyal immediately looked away, thinking it was his imagination.

"_…up ..._"

For a moment, he just blinked in confusion at the voice he thought he heard. But then he noticed the monsuno that was now standing across the cliff from everyone. No one else seemed to notice it until it let out a shrilled cry.

Suddenly, another monsuno came crashing into Afterburn, releasing Skyfall.

They all screamed out as Skyfall disappeared in a flash of blue and they went plummeting to the ground. There were many shouts as they fell, the most prominent being Chase and Bren. As he reached for one of his cores, Beyal swore he saw a woman with long brown hair standing a few feet away from Chase.

Before he knew it, the ringing suddenly became deafening, and his consciousness slip away.

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><p>AN: Ooo! Things are really starting to get going! The next few chapter will be a lot longer, so be looking forward to that.

To sort of respond to the comments, I've written stories before, but never _posted_ any. As long as there are reviews, there will be updates (let's me know people are invested).

Review Review Review!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thanks to Rezonmon, Antithesis-00, ChasexJinjaforever, guest user, Myra the Sark, and Kryst for the reviews.

Enjoy!

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><p>The sun was now on the farther side of the sky, meaning it was now well into the afternoon. S.T.O.R.M. copters were now spreading throughout the desert. The most prominent were those that were now stationed where the cavern used to be. A few miles west was the entrance to a mine shaft where four people came out covered in dust.<p>

"_Who would've thought that Suno would show up," _one of the people hissed._ ,"Here. Of all places! Wasn't he supposed to be with his father?"_

_"That's what one of the reports said,"_ another person said, this one more feminine, "_But as you know, he tends to find trouble on his own._"_  
><em>

"_Then how is it that Petros is having such trouble capturing this kid?"_ the first person asked irritated, "_If it weren't for our task we probably could've captured him ourselves."_

There was a sound in the distance. When they looked over towards the east, black helicopters were hovering over the remains of the cavern, taking off into two different directions.

"… _We could've captured him if we had just accomplished the task we were given in the first place!"_ a third person added in, much younger then the rest of them, _"And we didn't even do that!"_

The last person who had yet to speak took a few steps forward into the desert. The jungle wasn't too far off, and could easily be reached before the sun went down, especially now that the helicopters were now traveling back into the desert.

"…_It doesn't matter what the rest of the Hand is up to,__" _They said,_"the point is, is that we failed._ It_ was__ released back there, and we have nothing to show for it."_

The wind started to pick up, causing dust and sand to glide across the dunes. Dark clouds were forming in the distance towards the jungle.

"…_ At least until we get it back._"

MDH

"Chase! Over there!" Bren exclaimed. From across the canyon he could see an unfamiliar looking monsuno. It looked like an owl, but when it's eyes opened, they were like that of a snake's. It's neck elongated a bit, tilting in a disturbing matter as it watched them all. Finally, the beast gave an ear-piercing shriek that caused them all to grasp their ears. That was when all hell broke loose among the monsuno.

"Wh-what's going on Drezz?" Throttle asked. The Punk Monk's monsuno were now fighting amongst each other, but when Chase and Bren looked closer, it was as if they were fighting an invisible enemy. Drezz growled, and took a hold of Chase by the front of his shirt.

"This is your doing isn't it Suno?" he said. Before anyone could say anything, there was another loud howl behind them. Bren turned around to see Dax, Jinja, and Beyal all falling as Skyfall slowly disappeared back into its core.

"Guys!" Chase shouted, but was stopped when Drezz took a firmer grasp of his shirt.

"We're not done talking here Suno!"

Wasting no time, Bren took out another core before running forward.

"Longfang! Launch!"

Longfang came out in a flash of blue just in time to catch everyone before they hit the ground. It circled back, but was stopped when Afterburn came crashing to the ground, the mountain lion monsuno from before standing over it. The owl-like monsuno swooped over them and lashed out into the crowd as well, and soon the monsuno were all attacking each other.

"Longfang, try to go around!" Bren shouted, only to be muffled by the ongoing fights around him. The second monsuno with the jackal head came into view, and was the one that kept appearing and disappearing as the other monsuno continued to strike out at each other.

"Bren! Let's go!" Chase yelled. Bren turned around to see Chase running towards the canyon, Drezz doubled over clenching his stomach. Not wasting any more time, Bren quickly followed, trying to get sight of Longfang and the others. Finally he saw them emerge from the cloud of dust being kicked up by the fight Afterburn was having.

"Longfang this way!" He shouted, waving his arms in the air. Unfortunately that attracted the attention of the jackal-headed monsuno. Bren let out a yelp before running after Chase, the monsuno now charging into their direction. Evo, who was still on the ground, grabbed onto the other and forced it back. Both shrieked out as they attacked.

"Chase! We gotta get out of here!" Bren exclaimed. Chase continued to look around, even looking over the edge of the cliff. Below was a canyon with a river running through it, but was quite far down.

"We can't go down. And we can't outrun the rogue monsuno, much less the Punk Monks or S.T.O.R.M.," Chase said, looking around as if a way out would appear. He looked up to see the S.T.O.R.M. helicopters getting nearer, no doubt attracted by the battle. Evo wouldn't last much longer, and wouldn't be able to carry them all either. It was up to Dax and Beyal's monsuno now.

"Chase! Bren!" Jinja called out, avoiding a blast from one of the unknown monsuno. She ran out of the plumes of dust, a bit flustered but overall okay.

"Jin, we have to find a way out of here," Chase said, ducking down as a blast came flying by, "Where's everybody else?"

"They're right behind-" Jinja stopped, Dax came running out of the dust, much more disheveled then Jinja. Longfang jumped out, standing a few feet away between them and the monsuno battling. It would hiss and growl as soon as the fighting came near them.

"Dax, where did Beyal go?" Jinja asked.

"How should I know? I thought you were keeping an eye on him," Dax snapped, dusting himself off a little. Jinja shot him a look, and started to look around. There was too much chaos to see anything beside the monsuno. Even the Punk Monks were somewhere amongst it all and were hardly visible.

"_… Chase."_

He blinked, thinking he was hearing things.

_"Chase."_

That time he definitely heard someone. A vision flashed liked before, and he felt compelled to go into the commotion.

"Chase? Where are you going?" Bren asked as he took off.

"You guys stay here and out of sight. I'll go find Beyal," Chase said, and charged forward, despite their yells behind him. There was dust and blasts flying everywhere as he searched, trying to find some sort of sign. Evo was close by, and managed to throw the other monsuno back. It quickly lost interest and went back to fighting the Punk Monks.

'How did those monsuno get here so fast? They weren't even following us the last time I check,' Chase thought as the mountain lion monsuno charged towards Evo. He coughed as sand was kicked into the air. There were only a few of the Punk Monks' monsuno out battling, though they looked down to their last bits of energy. Drezz and the others were on the farther side away from everything, and immediately spotted Chase.

"Suno! What's going on here!" Drezz yelled, narrowly avoiding a blast that came close to taking off his arm.

"How am I supposed to know!" Chase retorted, and gave another look around, "I suggest you guys get lost before you and your monsuno end up as scrap metal!"

He didn't bother to stay and listen to whatever witty remark Drezz would give. He ran along the edge of the cliff, looking through the remaining few monsuno who were fighting. As the dust started to settle, the three unknown monsuno had cornered the last of the Punk Monk's monsuno, and were getting ready for one last assault. Chase paused for a moment, torn between finding Beyal and helping them.

Drezz gave him a strange look, and then smirked. He threw up a device that looked much like a stunning bomb. There was a flash before a cloud of smoke descended on them. Chase found himself grinning, knowing that they would be able to get themselves out of the situation, even if it did concern the other rogue monsuno. Drezz was clever like that.

When he turned around, Chase stopped. There was a woman standing on the edge of the cliff a few feet away, her long brown hair flowing in the wind. Chase's eyes widened in realization of who it was, even with her back facing him. Sand and dust was tossed in the air, and when Chase rubbed his eyes, the woman had disappeared and Beyal was standing there instead. Chase stood dumbly for a moment, realizing he was just seeing things.

After all, there was no way she could really be there…

"Beyal! We need to get out of here!" He exclaimed, getting as close as possible without drawing attention. The monsuno were still a couple of feet away, and even though they were going after the Punk Monks that didn't mean they would't change their minds and come after them. Not to mention S.T.O.R.M. that was on their way, no doubt seeing the commotion that was going on.

Despite all that was going on around them, Beyal seemed to have a calm demeanor, standing still against the wind that was starting to pick up. When he turned so that they faced each other, Chase gasped. His eyes were half open, but were glowing a bright green. Much like the time he had lost his soul.

"B-Beyal?"

"_Chase Suno." _Chase's eyes widened, shocked at the strange voice Beyal spoke in. It was silent, but also rung clearly out, even with them standing far apart from each other. Another monsuno roared out, and Evo was suddenly returned to its core. Chase ignored it. Beyal raised a hand and pointed towards the edge of the cliff.

"_Travel north until you find the hidden entrance to the Cavern of Coalesce. Use your monsuno sight to find the true path through the labyrinth. If you do not get lost, you will find the one you are looking for," _Beyal lowered his arm slowly and started to turn away.

"W-wait!" Chase exclaimed. He stopped and looked straight at Chase, who hesitated under the intense gaze. It was strange to see Beyal give him such a vicious look, when usually he had a peaceful air. Chase stood his ground though.

"Who are you? You're not Beyal."

They, whoever _they_ were, didn't respond, and Beyal suddenly swayed before collapsing to the ground.

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><p>AN: Review Review Review!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I encourage you all to watch the first few episodes in the japanese dub (those are the voices I hear them all speaking to be honest, which is why some of their speech mannerisms haven't all popped up a lot, except maybe Bren and Dax). Random to ChasexJinjaforever for the review.

Anyway, enjoy!

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><p>Oh how he had waited for this moment. Not only was Suno's boy now in range, monsuno essence was now flowing freely and abundantly from a single source. All Dr. Klipse had to do was claim it before Charlemange and Jeredy did, and he would finally be able to create a perfect human-monsuno hybrid.<p>

Sure the last few attempts were unsuccessful (especially because of Chase Suno!), but this new energy would most likely be the key. According to the readings, not only was it in a purer form then any energy so far, it was also a different structure.

"Have you tracked down the monsuno energy wave yet?" He said into the communicator. Currently he was still at his laboratory, watching closely over the readings of the monsuno energy as Hargrave was out surveying for him.

"Not yet sir," his butler responded, the communicator surprisingly scratchy, "it appears that anything left from the wavelength is gone, and S.T.O.R.M. troops are here as well."

Dr. Klipse frowned. Of course Charlemange would be on top of things. All those troops to her disposal so willing to bend over for her. Well, almost all of them.

"… There's something else sir." Dr. Klipse looked up with mild interest.

"What is it?"

"It seems that Chase Suno and his friends have been spotted in the area. And it seems that they were here _before_ the incident took place," Hargrave said.

"I see..." Dr. Klipse said, a rather sinister smile appearing on his lips, "Then I expect you know what to do then?"

"Of course sir."

HLD

"You got a solution on getting us out of here?"

Drezz closed his eyes in thought as the panic from his teammates became more evident. The bomb he threw only slowed the other monsuno a little, but it was obvious it wasn't going to be enough as they started to stir a minute later. He could see Suno talking to his friend behind the monsuno, but that was the least of his worries.

"I have one, but we'll be toast if it doesn't work," Drezz said, taking out a few more flash bangs and some timed explosives, along with a zip-line. If he could whip them up enough cover, then maybe they could make it across the canyon to the other side (and if they were lucky, the monsuno would go after Suno).

"When I say go, take off for the cliff over there," he said, turning the knobs on the bombs. They all nodded. Just then, the three other monsuno charged forward at them. Drezz threw the bombs out, latching them onto the ground in front of them. They beeped quickly before letting out more plumes of smoke.

The silhouettes of the monsuno suddenly veered away completely, and were now bolting towards Suno and his friend, who had suddenly collapsed.

Not wanting to press their luck, Drezz motioned the rest of them towards the edge of the cliff. Immediately he shot the zip-line over to the other side onto one of the less conspicuous ledges.

"Go! Go! GO!" he exclaimed, making sure the rest of his crew got on before him. Sure he was a liar and a cheat some times, but he wasn't about to turn his back on some of the people he had come close to over the past years. Not bothering to see if Suno made it out, or if the monsuno were on their way, he cut the line, and swung over, letting his team pull him back up.

Once he got up, he heard the explosion go off from where they just stood. Drezz motioned the rest of the Punk Monks to follow as they made their way along the cliff, until they reached a far enough distance away for the other monsuno.

"Ugh! That was too close," Ratchet sighed. They all stood for a moment when there was a loud quake. When they looked over, the cliffside had collapsed.

"… You think they're okay?" Tinker asked. Drezz smirked to himself.

"With that kid, it has more to do with whether we'll clobber him the next time we meet," Drezz said. No doubt Suno had probably made it out. He was lucky like that. Just then, his communicator went off, meaning Dr. Tallis would be wanting a full report.

"And I'm pretty sure that it'll be much sooner then he expects."

GWL

"Chase! Get back here!" Jinja shouted as Chase ran into the clouds of dust, hesitating for a moment on whether to go after him. But then there was another explosion, and more smoke filled the air. The rogue monsuno continued to roar, though it was hard to make out where they were exactly. When trying to look over the scene, Dax noticed how close the S.T.O.R.M. helicopter now were. They would probably be there within minutes, meaning they had to make tracks fast.

"Let's go!" Dax said. Jinja nodded, and they both took off into the brawl, Bren trailing behind them. It was hard to see anything in all the smoke, and it continued to get worse as the wind started to pick up.

"D-Do you guys see them?" Bren huffed along. Dax continued to eye the monsuno's shadows, expecting them to come towards them. There was no sign of the Punk Monks, meaning that they had probably taken off. Dax scoffed at that thought. Running when things got tough, the cowards.

Jinja suddenly gasped, and bolted towards the cliffs. When Dax and Bren followed, they could see Chase's outline. They were at his side as he stood blankly for a moment, looking forward in a dazed fashion. A few feet away from him was Beyal, who was sprawled out on the ground. Jinja ran over to his side as Bren tried to get Chase's attention.

"Chase! Wake up, we need to get out of here!" Bren exclaimed, shaking his shoulders a little. Chase didn't respond. There was another roar, and when the three of them turned, Evo had finally disappeared. Leaving them face to face with the rogue monsuno.

"Airswitch, launch!"

The monsuno stepped back a bit when Airswitch appeared in a blue glow, but charged forward. Bren and Jinja could only watch as Dax tried to take the monsuno on single-handed. The monsuno overpowered Airswitch with ease, tackling it to the ground and making it quake. The Owl-like monsuno suddenly flew overhead, and landed in front of Jinja and Beyal. It let out another shriek down at the two of them. Jinja sat frozen with fear, and without thinking, Dax stood in front of the two of them as it charged up another attack.

Airswitch was suddenly thrown into the monsuno, and the blast his the ground instead. Within seconds, the cliffs were crumbling down and they were all falling quick. The monsuno pelted Airswitch with more blasts, finally causing it to disappear. Dax cursed as Bren and Jinja screamed as they all fell. Chase snapped out of his daze when he heard them, and let out a yelp before they all hit the surface of the river below.

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><p>AN: Review Review Review!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Thanks to ChasexJinjaforever, Myra the Sark, and Antithesis-00 for reviewing!

Enjoy!

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><p>"Oh thank heaven!" Bren exclaimed as he was pulled up from the water, desperately taking in air. Taking a quick glance around, he saw that it was a wider, calmer part of the river that they had washed up on. The first thing he did was run out of the water and deposit his bag to see if the Core Tablet was damaged. Luckily, Dr. Suno made it sturdy enough to last a nuclear explosion. He sighed in relief, and sat back for a moment as he recalled the last few minutes.<p>

When they all fell into the river, everything seemed to move so fast. Tossed and thrown through all the waves and against rocks. Bren remembered being able to see everyone bobbing along trying to stay afloat, but also how hard it was for himself to stay above the water (he was never good at sports, much less swimming). At times, he thought he was gonna get pulled under, never to see the light of day again. Luckily, Dax kept a firm hand on his jacket, pulling him up every so often. He was the one who dragged Bren out of the water, immediately running back to the water's edge as Bren stumbled up and out.

Bren glanced around to see the others close by as well. Jinja was coughing violently, hunched over on the ground, while Beyal was sitting nearby, staring out at the river with a rather blank expression. Dax was still standing in the water, his coat tossed off to the side as he kept surveying out over the water. He suddenly leapt back in, leaving them all on the river bank. It was then that Bren realized that there was no sign of Chase.

The last thing he remembered was standing right next to him as the cliff collapsed below their feet. He doubted that he was too far off, but that wasn't a comforting thought.

"Jinja, did you see Chase?" he asked, looking over. Jinja looked downright sick as she turned over to him, bumps and scratches all over her arms and parts of her face. Bren looked down at himself to find a good amount on his own body as well. Oddly enough, Beyal seemed completely fine, though it was hard to tell with his cloak on.

"… Jinja?"

There was a loud splash, and they all turned to see Dax pulling Chase out of the river, unmoving.

"C-Chase!" Jinja choked out, stumbling over to his side. Dax set him on the ground. Chase was unresponsive and extremely pale with just as many bruises and cuts as the rest of them. Bren crawled over, trying to steady his own breath. He felt his hands start to quiver as he listened for a breath.

He didn't hear one.

"I-I don't think he's breathing!" Bren said shakily. Jinja instantly paled, and stumbled to his side as well. Wasting no time, Dax went to Chase's other side and immediately started to give chest compressions.

"C'mon baby Suno! Don't do this now!" He huffed. Bren could hear his own heart thumping in his ears as he could only watch and wait for some sort of sign.

"Chase..." Jinja muttered, her eyes cast downcast. Bren clenched his fists. If only they weren't blind-sighted, maybe he could've helped fight off the Punk Monks, or even those monsuno...

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked to see Beyal. He had an unreadable expression, but for some reason Bren found it reassuring. There was something about the way his eyes gleamed that felt... mesmerizing. In fact, they almost looked like they were _glowing._

DLM

Charlemange was furious.

Somehow Commander Trey had managed to screw up everything once more, letting new monsuno slip right from their grasp. What's more, Jeredy Suno and his son were a step closer to reaching them then she was. For all she knew, they had gotten into possession of those new monsuno, and were long gone. Currently she was storming down the hallway back to the main dock of the airship, eager to voice her concerns to all in earshot.

"Commandant Marshall!" The troops said as she entered. She didn't respond, and charged right up to her station.

"Patch me through to ze rest of ze crew!" She demanded. Not wanting to feel her wraith, the soldiers immediately went to work. She grabbed the microphone, slamming down on the button.

"ATTENTION!" she said, her voice booming, "WE ARE CHANGING COURSE TO ZE SOUTH EASTERN BASE. WE ARE TO BE ZERE BY TOMORROW MORNING!" There was a click and the intercom went silent.

"Put me through to zee Strike Squad!" Charlemange demanded, receiving a salute from one of the soldiers before Alpha showed up on the screen. He gave a salute.

"Commandant-"

"Save it!" She huffed, "Since you are closer. I want you to go find either ze new monsuno or Jeredy Suno's son and his group. And when you do dispose of them!"

"The monsuno or Chase Suno ma'am?" Alpha asked, clearly intimidated by the woman. She smiled, her eyes glistening.

"Both." She lifted her finger of the receiver and stormed out. No doubt she would have to prepare for the upcoming fight...

HLP

"I don't think it's working," Dax said grimly, slowing his compressions after a few seconds. When he pulled Chase from the water, he knew that things were bad. He never thought it would get to this point.

"Well, what do we do?!" Bren asked a bit hysterically. Dax bit his lip.

"Someone's going to have to give him mouth to mouth."

There was a stunned silence before all eyes fell on Jinja. Instantly, the color came back to her face in a raging blush.

"W-why are you looking at me! You know how to do CPR better then I can," she remarked, eyes going back and forth between Bren and Dax.

"Princess, I think you can spare one kiss of life," Dax said, earning a look of horror from Jinja. Bren's cheeks start to heat up at the comment as well. "Now c'mon. We don't have time to waste."

"Listen Dax, I don't think that-" Jinja suddenly trailed off, eyes wide and fixed back on Chase. Both Bren and Dax turned to see Beyal's hands placed over Chase's forehead and chest. He started muttering something under his breath, keeping still the whole time.

"...What's he doing?" Bren whispered as they huddled together. Jinja shushed him, eyes still on Chase. Dax watched Beyal for a moment, and gasped when he saw a flicker of green in Beyal's eyes as they closed. He almost thought he saw light below his eyelids as well.

The second it stopped, Chase's eyes shot open.

They all jumped as he instantly bolted from his seat and doubled over, coughing up water. When he was done, he rolled over, moaning and gasping.

"W-We m-made it..." he panted, coughing violently again before he settled down on the ground. None of them made a move, even when he slowly drifted off into sleep. Soon, Chase started to lightly snore, unknowing of what had just happened. Jinja and Bren sighed in relief, shoulders slumping as they finally relaxed.

But Dax kept his eyes focused on Beyal.

Beyal was sitting still, eyes fixed on Chase. There was a coldness in his gaze, as if there was something missing from it. There was a glint of green that was still there, though that could've just been the light...

"Oi, monkfish... How'd you do that?" Dax finally asked, a hint of suspicion in it. They had been traveling together as a group for almost a year now, so most things didn't come as a surprise any more. But something didn't sit right with him in the way Beyal was looking right now. It was as if it was someone else entirely.

Beyal's eyes slowly moved to Dax, and he felt captivated by his stare. Dax shivered a bit, unnerved by the strange look within his eyes, as if he would jump up and attack him within a second.

"It doesn't matter how he did it. What matters is that we're all okay. Including Chase," Bren said, a smile forming on both his and Jinja's lips before he continued. "Let's just make camp here for the night. I don't think any of us are ready to get moving so soon."

"It's about two or so hours before sunset, but I think it'll get colder and darker down here faster," Jinja said, standing up and brushing herself off. They all looked ragged at this point, and would definitely benefit from some rest, "I suggest we start a fire and get our clothes dry before that happens."

Dax didn't budge, and neither did Beyal, who finally looked away.

"...Dax? Beyal?" Bren asked, removing his bag from his shoulder, "You guys gonna help at all?"

Beyal stood up quickly, and started to turn away. Immediately, Dax took a hold of his wrist before he could leave.

"Dax? Is there something wrong?" Jinja asked, walking back towards them. He could feel Beyal shaking within his grasp, but out of what was the real question. Dax's eyes narrowed.

"... Who are you really?"

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><p>AN: Review Review Review!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Thanks to Myra the Sark, ChasexJinjaforever, Antithesis-00, Kryst, and the guest user for the reviews!

I realized after a comment that I put Charlemange as one of the key names even though her part doesn't come into play for awhile. Though to be honest, almost all the characters end up playing a part in one way or another *foreshadowing*.

Enjoy!

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><p><em>The fall into the water was surprisingly pleasant, as far as falling into freezing water goes at least. When he hit the water, Chase found that <em>_there was nothing but silence all around, even as he floated down deeper into the darkness. He opened his eyes to see everyone else struggling to get above for air as rocks continued to fall around them. He soon followed suit, kicking as fast as he could as he reached for the surface._

_There were flashes in his vision, and at first he thought it was because of the lack of oxygen. He saw his father, his friends, Locke, the Hand of Destiny, ruins in some dark place... It kept going like a movie on repeat, and he felt his head spinning as they came faster and faster. He wanted it to stop, and swam as hard as he could to reach the others._

_"… Chase."_

_He gasped when he heard that familiar voice so clearly. He could make the faint outline of someone floating nearby, coaxing him out of the flashes and easing the pain. Despite his lungs screaming for air, Chase swam lower towards the voice. The person came into view, with that familiar white dress and long brown hair. He had only seen her in visions and dreams, most of which were hazy._

_But that didn't mean he had forgotten._

_'Mother.' he thought. It wasn't too long ago when he had thought she was gone forever, and that maybe she was merely watching over him. But then he had learned from his father, Beyal, and the very members of the Hand of Destiny that she was in fact alive. His heart jerked when she smiled gently at him._

_"You... must…" she trailed off__, and held out a hand daintily. He had the urge to take it in his own, even though this was probably nothing more but another vision. Even so, she seemed much more physical then in all his past visions. Maybe if he could touch her..._

_Chase moved slowly, fighting his urge to get air. The edges of his vision started to get dark, but he continued to fight on. There was blue light behind her, giving her an angelic look as they were both surrounded by it._

_And that was the last thing he remembered before blacking out._

HLM

After they had finally gotten a fire started, Bren was trying to get a stable signal on the Core Tablet. It was stronger down in the canyon then in the desert for some reason (but he was certainly grateful for what little reception he got). For the most part he spent most of the time messing with the Core Tablet, trying to busy himself with work to get his mind off things.

They situated themselves in a cave as wide as the shore of the river that was next to them. It was much calmer then the rest of the river, enough so that they could wade in it quite a few feet outward before it got too deep. The cave also lead inward to a tunnel, though Bren didn't want to know what was probably in it.

"Hey Bren." he looked up. Jinja had somehow managed to get some fish from the river and had it cooking over the fire for the past few minute. She had a solemn look in her eyes as she stared down into the burning embers, not bothering to look up as well.

"What is it Jinja?" he asked as she flipped over one of the fish.

"Do you think...well... that there's something wrong over there?" she asked looking off to their side. Chase was still out of it from before, and was lying close by the fire with them. But Beyal was lying some ways a way, Dax watching over him as he kept tossing and turning in his sleep.

"Not really. I think Dax is just being a little paranoid at the moment," Bren said, looking back down to the tablet. "Why? Is he getting to you?"

"N-no. It's just that... What Dax said before... About that not really being Beyal..."

…...

_"__What do you mean Dax? Of course that's Beyal," Bren said, walking over to them. Dax had yet to loosen his grip, and both were standing still, "How else could he help Chase?"_

_"__Oh I don't think so, Glasses," Dax said, "Do you honestly think Beyal would be able to help raise Baby Suno back from the dead like he did?" Bren frowned and started to shuffle his feet. There were things about the monks of Tebab that none of them knew, but Beyal was different. He didn't have it in him to keep stuff from them. The only time he ever tried to keep information from them was the time he lost his ability to see visions, but even then Bren had somehow coaxed the information out of him._

_"__Dax, you're being ridiculous right now," Jinja said, standing next to Bren a few steps away, "Let's just get back to setting up camp. It's starting to get really cold really fast out here!"_

_Dax growled under his breath, and took hold of Beyal's shoulder. When he turned around, Beyal had a confused look on his face, eyes wide and blinking with concern. There was a faint distant look in his eyes that was fading away, and the glow that Bren thought he saw had disappeared as well._

_"__Dax?... Where are we?" he asked, a hand flying to his head. Dax's eyes widened in surprise, and released his shoulder. He took a step back as Jinja and Bren took a few steps forward. _

_"__Beyal? Yooou okay over there?" Jinja asked. There was a beeping, and Bren immediately lost interest as his attention was drawn back down to the Core Tablet. It had finally gotten a small signal, which meant they would be able to contact Dr. Suno soon and get out of this place._

_"__I am... not sure... where are we? And why is Chase on the ground?" Beyal asked wearily, looking around._

_"__You mean you don't remember the whole fighting off evil monsuno, taking a dip, and glowy monk powers?" Bren said. When he looked up, he saw Jinja shooting him a look. "Hey, I'm just being honest! You saw the way he-"_

_"__Beyal!"_

_When they both turned around, Beyal was falling forward, his legs giving out beneath him. Dax ran forward, letting Beyal fall against his chest. His arms were wrapped loosely around the smaller boy's shoulders, unsure of how to respond._

_"__Dax, what happened?" Jinja asked frantically, running over. Bren had jumped back up as well and followed suit._

_"__I don't know! He suddenly got this weird look and fell over!" Dax said quickly. When they looked at his face, Bren and Jinja could see Beyal's cheeks flushed red, his eyes closed, and face contorting in pain._

_….._

"I honestly think we just need to get out of this rotten desert," Bren said, "It does stuff to the mind. And I don't think you've noticed, but Dax isn't exactly the brightest bulb in the closet."

Jinja sighed, "Again, Bren, you're thinking of yourself." She looked down at the fire for a moment, and started to look back at the other two.

"Yeah sure. Blame the guy whose about to get us out of here," Bren mumbled. The signal for the Core Tablet was almost strong enough to send a message, he just need to-

"Chase!" Bren immediately glanced up at the mention of his best friend. On the other side of the fire, Chase had finally started to stir for the first time in hours. Bren and Jinja scooted closer and leaned over his side.

"How're you feeling?" Bren finally said after a moment.

"Why does it feel like I was tossed around in a washing machine for a few hours..." Chase said under his breath. Bren sighed in relief. "Uh... Hey B. Jin."

"Geez Chase. Give us all a heart attack will you," Jinja remarked. Chase gave her an exhausted smile, and looked around the cave.

"So… Where are we exactly?"

GLM

"Well, we're still in the desert if that's what you're wondering," Bren said. Now that he had a good look at them, Chase could see Bren and Jinja looking a little on the unkept side. Both of their hair was sticking out in some places, and their clothes were damp with little rips and tears in some places. They all sported cuts and bruises all over as well.

"Basically we fell into the river over the cliff," Jinja said shrugging lightly.

"I could gather that much," Chase said, and glanced over to the fire. He could see their coats lying next to it, still drying. His eyes trailed off over to the side where he could see Dax. "What's going on over there?"

"Beyal collapsed shortly after...Uh... How do I say this..." Bren trailed off scratching his head. Jinja took a short breath.

"Chase. You weren't breathing," Jinja said a bit hesitantly. Chase had a blank look on his face for a moment, not processing what she said. She shuffled in her seat before continuing, "Beyal ended up doing... _something_ that helped you breath again-"

"But I'm pretty sure he used some mystic mumbo jumbo or something," Bren said, getting an angry look from Jinja. "… Why do you keep looking at me like that? I swear it's like you wanna- Ow!"

Chase stared over them at the river for a moment as Jinja pummeled Bren's shoulder. That dream of his mother was so vivid still… Was she trying to lead him somewhere like before?

"_Travel north until you find the hidden entrance to the Cavern of Coalesce. Use your monsuno sight to find the true path through the labyrinth. If you do not get lost, you will find the one you are looking for."_

Chase held his breath when he remembered those words again, eyes lingering on Dax and Beyal for a moment. Without saying anything, he stood up and walked right over to the two of them. Dax jumped a bit when he saw Chase, but didn't say anything. Chase sat on the other side of Beyal, who opened his eyes a little wearily.

"C-Chase...?" He mumbled. His eyes were unfocused, and sweat was rolling down his flushed cheeks.

"Beyal, I need to know what you meant by going north. Is my mother there? Or the Hand of Destiny?" Chase asked seriously. There was a silence as everyone exchanged confused looks. Beyal blinked slowly.

"...I... Don't understand..." He panted out. Chase frowned, then finally realized the strange look in Beyal's eyes was gone. It was hard to tell with his eyes half open the way they were, but the murderous stare clearly wasn't there. Chase cleared his throat uncomfortably when he felt everyone looking at him with concern.

"Um... What I meant to ask was, what do you last remember?" He asked. Beyal continued to stare for a moment, then lowered his gaze a bit. Chase could feel everyone's eyes going back and forth between them as they spoke.

"You and Bren were... talking to Drezz... He... gave you something...?" Chase blinked, and remembered the jump drive. He patted his pockets, finding only a few coins and a foil candy wrapper.

"Bren, grab my jacket and look in the pockets," he said. Bren held up the Core Tablet for everyone to see, a smile spreading on his face.

"I was already on it. And it looks like Dr. Tallis is wanting us to go down south towards one of the S.T.O.R.M bases," Bren said, pulling up the map. It had a large dot where they were, and another one farther down that was blinking. Bren suddenly got a serious look, "Apparently they sighted some sort of new monsuno a few hours ago. According to the report it is- was... similar to Quickforce."

Chase held his breath, and everyone's eyes immediately fell as Bren grew silent. It had been months since Quickforce had to sacrifice itself to save them, but it was clear that Bren would never forget his fallen friend. Chase pulled out Locke's core and felt the metal findings. He simply held it for a moment, watching as Locke's energy continued to glow inside.

"… Is that all that was on the jump drive?" Chase asked hesitantly. Bren snapped out of his stupor, and tapped on the Core Tablet.

"Unfortunately, no. There was a message in some other language - ancient in fact - but it didn't match up with any pre-existing ones to decode it," Bren sighed, and held it out.

"Maybe the good doctor has finally lost it," Jinja said, looking down at the tablet. It was a picture of a stone with etchings in it. It looked familiar, but Chase couldn't place exactly where he saw it before. The stone definitely looked old with crystals embedded into it.

"Well... Anyway, I think we ought to head up north," Chase said, crossing his arms. When he looked up, everyone had gone back to staring at him, "... What?"

"Didn't you just hear Glasses?" Dax said, raising a brow, "The new monsuno is down South. And I'm pretty sure that's the opposite of north."

Chase frowned, and stood up, "You're not forgetting what happened a few hours ago when those creeps from the Hand were up to no good. We need to focus on their actions, and not to mention those other monsuno that had showed up when we were facing off against the Punk Monks." Chase was still holding onto Locke's core, and gripped it tight as he spoke.

"Well, we're not exactly equipped to go head to head with anyone anytime soon" Dax said, standing up as well, "The last thing we need is to be going into a fight with our guns half blazing. Especially if those rogue monsuno are still out there."

"And weren't we originally on a mission for your dad?" Bren added, and looked back down at the tablet after it started to beep again.

Chase rubbed the back of his neck, frustrated. It's true that they had come to the desert to collect samples (and they hardly even did that), but after what happened in the cave a few hours ago, it was obvious something was wrong. And with all the people involved, including the Hand of Destiny, this was spelling out trouble for everyone.

"I... think we ought to go back as well..." Jinja said honestly. "Chase. I don't think you realize it, but you almost _died_ today. And Beyal's not looking to good either right now."

Chase cast a look down at Beyal, who had drifted off back to sleep at some point. His breathing was a bit erratic, and while he didn't have as many injuries as everyone else, he seemed to be the worst one off at the moment.

Chase bit his lip and looked down at Locke's core again. Locke was still antsy, no doubt worried about Chase throughout the past few hours he was out. When he looked up, Chase looked back and forth between Bren and Jinja, who both had the same looks of concern in their eyes. As much as he wished to continue on and get to the bottom of things, Chase knew the wellbeing of everyone else would have to take priority.

"… Alright," he said reluctantly, putting Locke's core back onto his belt,"We'll leave at the crack of dawn. We… I'll get a hold of my dad tonight."

The Hand of Destiny would have to wait for another day a little longer. _She_ would have to wait a little longer...

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><p>AN: Review Review Review!


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Just watch the Japanese dub… Yes.

Thanks to Myra the Sark, ChasexJinjaforever, Glowblade998, and KaimelarTheDreamer for the reviews!

Enjoy!

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><p>"You have a signal yet?" Chase asked, poking around the fire. Bren wiped his eyes of sleep (which was sounding pleasantly good right now), as he looked away from the screen. He had been working for a few hours now, and had almost no progress on trying to get a connection out of the desert, much less to Chase's dad.<p>

"Sorry Chase, I don't have a strong enough signal to call him, but it might be possible to send a really brief message," Bren said, "It can only be a couple of seconds though. Maybe a minute..."

"That's plenty of time," Chase said, quickly taking the tablet in his own hands. He cleared his voice, and started to record, "Dad. We managed to collect the samples of energy. But there has been a disturbance in monsuno energy, it appears that it may be connected to the Hands of Destiny." Chase hesitated for a moment, "...There's also these unknown monsuno that have attacked us. They don't appear to belong to anyone, but there was definitely something wrong about them."

The tablet started to beep, showing that they were loosing the signal. Chase quickly sent the message before it went dead. Bren took it, and started to furiously tap at the screen.

"...Sorry Chase. Signal's gone," Bren sighed in defeat, tossing the tablet on the top of his bag. Chases eyes lingered on it for a moment before he sighed as well. Bren could tell that there was a lot more Chase had wanted to say, even if he wouldn't be able to get an immediate response.

"I'm sure we could get in contact with him the closer we get to S.T.O.R.M. tomorrow," Chase said reluctantly. He sat for a second looking into the fire with an unreadable expression.

A little after dinner (and more arguing) they decided that their next action would be to go to the base, albeit briefly. Bren found it a little odd that Chase would be so set on going to some other location without telling them anything. He never kept any secrets from any of them, especially Bren or Jinja. Even after Chase found out that his father had gone missing, he was completely honest with the situation.

But now...

"So what's really up north?" Bren asked curiously. Chase bit his lip. Bren watched as he leaned closer to the fire, as if he saw something in the embers. After another moment, Chase sighed again.

"… I don't know," he said, and went back to stirring the fire, "Call it a hunch, but I think- _know_ - that there is something up there that has to do with the Hand of Destiny."

There was a silence between them as the fire cracked.

"Does… Does it have something to do with your mom?" Bren asked hesitantly.

"…Maybe." Is all Chase said. Bren waited a moment for him to say something else, but he never did. Bren cast his gaze to the ground. He wanted to press for more answers, but all night Chase had been more worried about the next day. It was a bit unnerving the way he focused on leaving.

Bren stretched his arms up and popping his back a bit, "Well. I'm calling it a night." He muttered, and turned over so that he was facing away from the fire. But even after a few minutes of silence, he continued to trace random circles in the sand as he thought about what they would face tomorrow.

DMG

She yawned for the seventh time within five minutes, trying to fight off sleep as the night continued to roll on. Jinja was left watching over Beyal since Dax was on lookout at the moment. Jinja couldn't see the reason why it was necessary, and honestly agreed with Bren (for once) that maybe Dax was thinking a little too hard about what happened earlier. She looked over her shoulder at Chase and Bren, who were messing with the Core Tablet.

There was a low moan, and Jinja turned her attention back to Beyal. He shifted in his sleep, muttering something under his breath before calming a bit. He had a bad fever that had yet to break (and it didn't help that they were in the desert of all places). And since almost all their supplies had been lost when they fell, it was hard to say whether or not he would get better anytime soon.

Jinja clenched her fists in her lap. They obviously needed to get out of this dreadful place, especially with those monsuno running after them, and Chase still wanted to stay. At one point he even suggested that _he_ would go North alone while the rest of them go find Dr. Suno.

Her hands loosened at that last thought. Throughout all the time that they had to travel together in the past year, not once did Chase want to do it alone. Even in his loneliest times, either Jinja or Bren would be there to help him through it. Even recently Dax and Beyal were much more joined into their close circle.

There was a sharping beeping, and when she looked back, Bren had tossed the Core Tablet back onto his bag in frustration. No doubt they were having trouble with contacting Dr. Suno.

'Chase'll be happy that we're staying a little longer at least,' she thought, frowning.

"… Jinja?" She jumped at the sudden soft voice, and saw that Beyal was half awake. His eyes held a look of absolute exhaustion as he tried to keep them open.

"Um… Yes?" Jinja asked softly.

"…Where did… Master Ey go?" He asked almost silently.

She held her breath sharply at the mention of his late master. It had been over a month since the temple was nearly destroyed by One-Eyed Jack and the Desert Wolves. Beyal took it hard, though he tried not to show it, often times meditating for longer periods of time then before.

"Uh… Beyal, don't you remember what happened?" she asked. He lazily looked around before focusing back on her.

"… Did something happen to Master Ey? He was just here," Beyal trailed off, and nodded back into sleep.

Jinja didn't doubt that Master Ey had probably tried to make contact with the monk, but at the same time he could've just been delusional because of the fever. She brushed his bangs out of his eyes softly before standing up to stretch. Beyal flinched at the action, but didn't awaken again. After a moment, she glanced around the cave.

There was an unsettling feeling that she couldn't shake since that afternoon when they left the cave. It made her on edge, and more conscious of the things around them. Every flicker or shadow she jumped at, but knew that it was probably nothing.

'We just need to get out of here,' she thought. It frustrated her how they almost decided to stay for an extra day just because Chase wanted to go on a hunch. At least that's what he was saying. It didn't take a genius to know he was lying. There were always those subtle hints she could pick up on, especially back when the three of them were kids.

'If only things were as simple as before,' she sat back down, placing her hands in her lap. She didn't regret choosing to help Chase - and neither did Bren - but there were times when she wished they were back at home doing simpler things instead of running for their lives half the time.

She yawned one last time before lying close by Beyal. She turned towards the fire though, watching as the embers crackled, lulling her to sleep until Dax came over to wake her for the next shift.

MGL

The almost full moon shone out throughout the desert, casting its glow across the dunes. Alpha stood on the edge of the forest, looking out over the massive amounts of sand. Somewhere amongst it all was their targets, and it would be hell of a search to find them

"Hey Alpha," he turned to see X-Ray, "I picked up a small signal a few miles northwest from here. No doubt it's from Suno's crew."

"Perfect, tell everyone else we move out in ten," he said. X-Ray nodded a walked back into the forest to their camp. Alpha looked back into the desert, a smirk appearing on his lips. It looks like he'll finally get his rematch he truly wanted...

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><p>AN: Poor Bren and Jinja :( There's never enough of their perspectives or backstories, though we'll be getting a look at what's been going through the minds of our other heroes in the next chapter!

Review Review Review!


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: The calm is about to come to an end. That's all I'm going to say.

Thanks again to KaimelarTheDreamer, Myra the Sark, and ChasexJinjaForever for the reviews!

Enjoy!

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><p>Bren had fallen asleep almost immediately, leaving Chase alone to look over the fire. He looked around to see Jinja also sleeping near Beyal a few feet away. It had been an exhausting day for all of them, but he felt restless at the moment. Those strange monsuno, S.T.O.R.M. chasing them, and even Dr. Tallis sending his goons on them kept replaying in his mind.<p>

Then there was that message that Beyal had given him, along with the visions he was having. He didn't want to mention it to Bren (who would have gone into immediate paranoia), and talking about it to Jinja would just cause her to worry. As much as he hated keeping things from them, he had to do this on his own. Neither of them could even understand what he saw that day.

Speaking of which, why _did_ he see _her_? There were never this many visions so close to each other, except a few months ago when they had to go to the Cave of Convergence. But even then, it was probably because of all the monsuno essence. It was also a little bizarre at how physical she seemed, not dreamlike but actually there near him.

… Was the answer really up North? Was she the one trying to lead him there like before?

"Oi, Chase," He looked up to see Dax standing nearby. He had a serious look, that had a hint of weariness in it from the day, "Can we have a talk?"

Chase nodded, not wanting to wake the others. They walked a few feet from the fire till they were on the edge of the river. It was lapping along the bank lazily, giving off a serene sound that would probably lull them to sleep.

"What is it?" Chase asked quietly. Dax hesitated for a moment, looking out to the river, then looked back at Chase.

"Before. There was something wrong with the little monkfish," he said.

Chase raised a brow, "What do you mean?"

"Ugh... I don't know. Maybe it was a play of the light or something, but when he..." Dax motioned at Chase, "I guess... _healed_ you or whatever. There was something about him that was... different." Dax looked down, and started shuffling his feet in the sand. "It was as if he was some other person..."

Chase's eyes widened at the comment, and he turned toward the river, "I... I know what you mean. When we were up on the cliff during the fight with the Punk Monks, it was as if someone was speaking through him." He turned to look at Dax, "And who ever it is, wants us to go north."

"Well, we aren't about to just go walking in like that are we? It could be a trap after all, maybe even one set up by those Hand of Destiny creeps," Dax said. Chase bit his lip. When he thought about it that way, it was obviously a trap, and clearly had them outmatched. Especially if they can possess people like it did to Beyal.

"I wish we could talk to Beyal about whoever it was. But he's too out of it to say anything," Chase said, looking back. The monk boy had gone in and out of consciousness throughout the night, but wasn't lucid enough to have a long enough conversation.

"Well... Actually. He did say something in his sleep before you woke up," Dax said, looking down as he kicked up sand. "He was muttering something about the old man monk in his sleep, and some sort of warning he wanted to give."

They were both silent for a moment. Chase looked out, watching the river roll by as he thought about everything. Someone - if not his mother - wants them to go north, but _why? _And Dr. Tallis wants them to go sabotage S.T.O.R.M., when clearly he knows something more. Or it's actually some sort of trap set up by Charlemange. Then there's the hooded people from before...

"Arg! It's just too much!" He exclaimed, scratching his head in frustration. He sighed in defeat, and turned back to Dax. "If I go north tonight, could you lead everyone down to the S.T.O.R.M. base or to meet up with my dad?"

"Are you nuts!" Dax exclaimed, not too loudly though, "you almost kick the bucket, and now you want to leave us stranded in the middle of the desert? How are you even going to get back without the Core Tablet anyway? It's not like you can just call up Dr. Suno."

Chase licked his lips nervously. There wasn't a way he would be able to met up with everyone again until after they meet with his dad. Even then, there was no telling if or when that would happen. And if they got in trouble, then he wouldn't be able to help them, and vice versa.

He let out a sigh of defeat, "I guess we'll just have to go to the S.T.O.R.M. base. At least there we know what we're up against with them..."

"You sure that's what you want to do? You seemed very set on finding this... whatever it is, up north," Dax said, a little surprised at Chase's resolve. He honestly didn't want to stop, especially if it was his mother that was leading him, and would much rather go on his own if that's what it took.

"... Everyone else wants to go to the base or leave. So that's what we'll do."

He turned to go back to camp when Dax took a hold of his wrist, "I'm serious though. I don't think we should rely too much on Beyal for directions any more. For all we know he could be influenced by whoever that was."

Chase nodded, "I guess... Until we find out who that was, we should just keep an eye on him." Dax loosened his grip, but continued to look out over the bank of the river. Chase started to walk back to camp. He wasn't entirely sure about not trusting Beyal, but at the same time, he needed to figure out what's up north. That voice sounded so familiar… Not exactly his mother, but not exactly like Beyal either.

He sat back down near the fire. Even though Dax would be on lookout for another hour, Chase still felt a bit on edge. After a moment, he just focused on the fire, watching the flames dance. Slowly, he laid down next to it and closed his eyes.

Just before he fell entirely asleep, he thought he heard someone singing...

DGM

It wasn't long after Chase went to bed, maybe a half hour or so, did Dax wander off on his own. Not too far from the group that they wouldn't hear a big commotion, though it was already far too narrow to summon a monsuno in the part of the canyon he was walking, so the chances of getting ambushed were low. He went up stream for a bit, looking up at the stars glistening through the split of land.

He let out a sigh when he found himself walking further down in thought. This was way too much at the moment. Rogue monsuno, almost losing their leader, Chase wanting them to split up. Not to mention someone trying to attack them at almost every corner like S.T.O.R.M., the Punk Monks, and now these bunch of hooded creeps.

Dax sighed to himself again, "How did I even get involved in all this?" He picked up one of the flatter rocks on the shore, and skipped it on the surface of the water. He never thought he would every be part of something as crazy as monsuno. It was even crazier that he was still around as a part of Team Core Tech.

But then again, Jeredy had offered to help find Dax's mother. _If_ she was still out there.

He picked up another rock, and skipped it farther then the last and landing with a satisfying splash. He honestly had little hope for ever finding her, and would probably go on with his life once he found the inevitable truth about her death. There was a slim chance she was still alive, but after scouring through the badlands all his life, Dax had given up.

That is until he met Dr. Suno.

He was about to pick up another rock, but stopped when he heard the crunch of pebbles from a short distance away. The path curved around the cliff back to the cave, and it was easy to hide around all the different bends.

"I know you're there," he simply stated. There was no response. Carefully, he sidestepped along so his footsteps couldn't be heard as easily. He waited until he heard another footstep, and pounced out around the corner, tackling someone down to the ground with a yelp. Immediately, he panicked when he saw the familiar orange hair.

"Geez, Dax. You're so paranoid!" Jinja said, pushing him off. She dusted off her pants as she stood, frowning at him as she did so, "Just came to say it's my turn for watch duty, but then I couldn't find you at the lookout."

"Oh. Right. Sorry," He said, standing as well. She studied him for a moment, but didn't say anything.

"What were you even doing out here?" Jinja asked, more out of curiosity then suspicion.

"What's it to you?" he said, shoving his hands into his pockets, "Just thinking is all."

"Oh," She said, and awkwardly looked to the ground.

"… Anyway we should probably head back before something happens," Dax said, taking a few steps forward, "By the way, how's Beyal doin?"

"Fine," Jinja frowned, walking ahead of him "Well, his fever hasn't gone, but other then that nothings been happening."

He expected as much. There was always the chance that the _thing _from before would come back and take over the monk. And the last thing they need was to be fighting him, especially since it seemed so fierce.

"And Chase? He's still there?" Dax asked in case Chase wandered off. They started to slowly make their way back, going around another curve in the path. It turns out Dax had wandered a lot farther then he initially thought, not being able to see the campfire at all.

"He's just sleeping. I'm surprised considering how much he got earlier," Jinja said, and suddenly stopped walking.

"… What is it?" He asked, tensing up in case she saw something ahead of them. Instead, she turned back at him.

"It's... just a little weird," she said, a smile forming on her lips.

"What? That Chase is sleeping a lot? I'm surprised that we haven't clocked out either-"

"That's not what I meant," Jinja chuckled, "I meant with you being so caring lately. It isn't like you to be so invested in everyone."

A blush started to form on Dax's cheeks, "Erg... It's not like I'm doing it on purpose. I'd just be bad if one of you passed out or something tomorrow and we get stuck here even longer."

Jinja chuckled a bit, "Yeah I suppose..."

"... Is that all? You seem like you want to say something else" Dax asked, crossing his arms. Jinja turned away a bit. Her eyes fell to the ground as she traced circles with her foot.

"I... Wanted to say. Thanks."

He raised a brow, "What for?"

"Well... You were the one who dragged Chase out of the river," She said earnestly, "And before all this you were looking after the rest of us when he fainted back in the cave when we saw those people."

"Again, just trying to keep everyone in good shape," Dax said. In reality he really didn't do much at all. Why was Jinja putting so much thought into this?

"I know, but lately…" Jinja bit her lip, "It's just that... Chase gets a little frustrating to deal with sometimes. Even when half of us are wanting to go back, he wants to push forward..."

"Oh come now princess. He's not all like that," Dax said, but stopped himself. Why was he even talking to her about Baby Suno? It's not like he actually cared about what Jinja thought about the others.

"Oh he is," Jinja continued, "He's always been the leader type of guy, ever since we were kids."

Dax's gaze lowered. Sometimes he forgot about how the three of them were close friends. Sure the five of them had been getting close this past year, but there were still times he felt like an outcast. He decided it would be best to drop the conversation entirely, and took a step forward so that he and Jinja could get back to the others.

And that's when their lips met.

* * *

><p>AN: OwO

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	12. Chapter 12

A/N: That last chapter was actually unexpected believe it or not (much like the rest of the story). Thanks to KaimelarTheDreamer, ChasexJinjaForever, Myra the Sark, GlowBlade998, and the two guests for the reviews!

Enjoy!

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><p>He couldn't find them. Somehow Jeredy had lost the signal being given off of the Core Tablet. He rubbed his eyes for the tenth time that night, desperately trying to find his son and the other members of Core Tech. It took him a while, but after he fixed the cracks in Jon's case he immediately got to work intending to find the group within the hour.<p>

Unfortunately, that was four hours ago.

He let out a sigh, looking to the clock that now read twenty past midnight. He built that tablet to go through hell and back, how was it that he could lose a signal so easily? Especially since he and Chase had talked earlier that day before they left into the desert.

…..

_"You got enough water? It shouldn't take too long to be honest," he said to Chase, who was busy checking his cores._

_"I know, I know! Seriously dad, this should be a cakewalk compared to trying to track you down," Chase retorted with a laugh. Jeredy chuckled as well, but grew silent after that, and watched as Chase clipped his cores into his belt. As much as he wished to finally spend time with his son, the safety of their world and the monsuno was the first priority. That was how it has always been after all..._

_"… Was there something else you wanted?" Chase asked, stirring Jeredy from his thoughts._

_"Ah. No," he said, turning to the door, "Just. Make sure to take care of yourselves."_

…..

His eyes lingered on where he last saw the tracker on the Tablet.

"...There is definitely something blocking the signal," he muttered quietly to himself as to not disturb Jon, who had fallen asleep shortly after the commotion died down.

There was a short beep from the computer, and he saw that there was a message sent from the Core tablet. Anxiously, he opened it to reveal the sender as the Tablet. Unfortunately, there was a lot of static that caused skips in the audio.

_"__Dad. We managed to collect the samples of energy... there has been a disturbance in monsuno... may be... of Destiny... unknown monsuno that have attacked us. They don't appear... anyone, but... something wrong..."_

It ended almost immediately, and he had to play it multiple times to try and understand what Chase was trying to say.

What he gathered was that Chase felt the disturbance in monsuno energy, and there were new monsuno out loose. The only people Jeredy could think that would allow such a thing to happen would be either Charlemange or Dr. Klipse. Both of which would only do so as a last resort, and no one knew that he sent the group out. He was very meticulous when it came to that at least.

Pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, Jeredy immediately went to work on tracking the signal. Maybe he could send the group help.

Or, if it came down to it, go out and help them on his own.

MHP

The Punk Monks set up their camp on the edge of the cliff some ways away from where Suno and his group had washed up. They kept watch throughout the night in case that group decided to leave, which didn't seem likely from the look of things.

"It looks to me like they're planning on ambushing Suno and his crew." Throttle said. Drezz looked over his shoulder. She and the rest of the Punk Monks were looking over the cliff, surveying the area. Drezz went over to the three of them and looked as well. On the farther side of the cliffs he spotted what appeared to be S.T.O.R.M. troops trying to find Suno, dressed in bright white suits.

Even though the good doctor paid them to keep Suno out of S.T.O.R.M.'s hands until they could get a hold of that new monsuno, he wasn't about to go head first into things without a plan. At this point it was better to go unnoticed unless things got bad.

"I'm sure that Suno could handle it," Drezz said, sitting down and leaning back. "I doubt that he'll really need us to swoop in to save him."

"Yo boss," Tinker said, who was looking in the opposite direction.

Drezz let out a sigh, "What is it now?"

"It looks like there's more people after Suno and his crew. They don't look like they're from S.T.O.R.M. though..."

Drezz stood up, and looked over the side, swiping the binoculars from Tinker's hands. Sure enough, there were two people walking around the edge of the cliffs, probably trying to find another way to get the jump on them. They split off from each other, one heading back up the cliffs as the other kept going down.

"Well would you look at that," Drezz said under his breath, "Apparently there's something bigger going on then what the doctor is telling us."

Of course it wouldn't be the first time it happened. As 'trusting' as they were, Dr. Tallis never left tons of vital information with them, only what was necessary. It was a bit insulting to be honest.

"This doesn't change anything," Drezz remarked, tossing the binoculars back, "Keep watch on them. If they pose a threat to Suno, or hinder him from going to S.T.O.R.M., we have to take them out..."

GHL

It was a mistake.

A rather unfortunate mistake that would soon be regretted.

Jinja had intended to give Dax and reassuring hug, or even a quick peck on the cheek. What she wasn't expecting was him to move at the same time she did, now locking their lips together.

She should have been mortified (which she was), and probably should've pushed him away, or even slapped him by now. Yet, even as seconds seemed to turn into hours, she didn't want to pull away.

For some reason it seemed natural. She had only initiated so many kisses in her life (most of which involved clingy grandparents or cheek pinching aunties), but the only ones that were remotely on the romantic side were the two she had given Beyal. But maybe those were just from the heat of the moment, much like this one.

Yet this one felt like so much more. Instead of innocent or sweet, it was intense and made her heart beat thump hard against her chest with adrenaline. The second her lips met with Dax's, it was as if she couldn't pull away.

Luckily, she didn't have to.

Dax had found her shoulders and harshly pushed her away. He had a look of horror on his face, as if she really did slap him instead.

"What do you think you're doing?!" He said. She blinked for a moment, not understanding. He turned away with a blush on his cheeks, hands still gripping her shoulders, albeit shakily, "You... Why would you..."

"... Dax. I..." She took a breath and turned away. What had she just done? Kissed the jerk that had been making fun of them all since he met them, that's what. His reaction spoke as well, and regret about it was starting to well up.

"You know what? Just forget it," She snapped, arms crossing tightly, "It's not like it matters any way."

"Oh. It's like that is it? I'm not up to par for you or something?" Dax scoffed, "Well, I guess I'm sorry for disappointing you if I can't measure up to your little monkfish."

She felt her cheeks redden, both from embarrassment and anger. "What the hell do you even know anyway? You're just some lowland punk who cheats people." She huffed.

"Maybe princess," Dax said, and walking past her, "But at least I am straight with people. You can't even find the gull to out right say your feelings, to _any _of us."

Even when she could hear his footsteps trail away, Jinja didn't turn around, biting her lip in anger. When she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, she finally started shouting and kicking at the ground.

"Stupid Dax!" She cursed, and finally sat down after a few minutes, panting. She drew her knees up to her chest, holding them as she stared out at the river. Her hands curled around the rocks at her feet, and carelessly threw them into the water.

'Why did I think any differently...' Jinja thought. Once, shortly after they all met, she had thought that maybe there was something else to Dax, that he wasn't just some delinquent from the desert. And that_ maybe,_ he would eventually become their friend. She even tried to get to know him more, but it was obvious he wanted nothing to do with her (or any of them at that point).

She sighed, and continued to watch the stream go by. She wasn't even sure how long she stayed like that, contemplating about that kiss. It was only when she heard footsteps approaching did she look up.

"Oh yeah, Chase's turn for lookout," Jinja muttered. It was then she remembered Dax's last comment. Maybe now was a good time to start talking more instead of blindly going along with what their leader said. After all, deep down Chase was still the reckless little kid she could turn to back when they were younger.

She stood up again, giving one more look to the river before turning. But what she saw made her gasp. Oh she knew Chase's familiar jacket anywhere.

The only problem was that this one was red.

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><p>AN: Just to be a little clear, I don't really ship anyone in this story. Sure there will be tender moments and such like in the previous chapters, but romance was never a key point in the show, so it isn't the real focus of the story. (It will still be brought up though!)

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	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thanks to ChasexJinjaForever, Myra the Sark, KaimelarTheDreamer, and Rezonmon for the reviews!

Enjoy!

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><p>He woke up from the sound of an annoying beeping. Bren groaned as he groped for the Core Tablet. It went silent on its own after a minute, meaning it was probably just low on batteries. He stiffly sat up and lazily put his glasses back on.<p>

"I am so looking forward to a regular bed again," he yawned, stretching out his sore muscles. Usually they would've at least had sleeping bags, or even stayed at some inn, but with all their supplies lost the cold hard ground was their only choice, "What about you Jin?"

He had to blink a few times to realize that the only ones around were Chase and Beyal, who were both still asleep.

"Jinja? Dax?" He called out. There was no response. Where did they go?

'They're probably hitting the can or something,' Bren thought to himself, reaching out to get the Core tablet once more. The noise from before was probably water damage. Maybe it would work better now that it go the chance to dry off. Bren dully glanced down at the screen as it powered on.

That's when he noticed something in the reflection. When he squinted, it almost looked like someone was standing on the cliff above them...

"Tripwire! Launch!"

Suddenly, there was a burst of yellow light erupting from above, followed by a loud splash that left Bren soaked. When he finally wiped his glasses off, Bren was face to face with a rather familiar monsuno.

"Oh crag..."

The beast roared out at him, causing the whole cavern to shake and Bren to fall over. Chase immediately shot up, stumbling to his feet to stand.

"Wha-What's going on?!" He half mumbled half shouted. The second he saw the monsuno, he jumped up and reached for his own. As soon as he got back onto his feet, Bren followed suit.

"Deepsix!"

"Longfang!"

"Launch!"

With a burst of blue light, all three monsuno were now fighting it out in the shallows of the river. There was almost no room outside for them to fight without hitting the sides of the cliff, and every movement caused either a shower of water or the cliffs to quake.

"Bren, try to keep them in the center of the canyon!" Chase shouted, and suddenly had a panicked look on his face. "Wait! Where's Jinja and Dax?"

"I don't know! I just woke up, and the next thing you know I'm face to face with this monster!" Bren exclaimed. The sound of laughter drew their attention. Standing on some of the rock formations on the opposite side was the S.T.O.R.M. Strike Squad.

"Hey there Suno! Ready for a rematch?" Alpha boasted as the rest of his team brought out their cores.

"Only if you're ready to get your ass kicked for the third time!" Chase smirked, "Deepsix, terra torpedo!"

His monsuno roared out before diving down below both the river and the ground, ramming into Tripwire. Although it was more suited for land, Deepsix could still outmatch most monsuno in the water as well.

"Launch!"

Another burst of yellow light, and four more monsuno were clashing with Deepsix and Longfang. They were now seriously outmatched. Bren cast Chase a worrying look, but he was too caught up in the fight. It wasn't until two of the monsuno crashed into the cliffs above them did Bren notice how the cave was now shaking horribly.

"Chase!" He finally pipped up, "The cave could collapse any second, we have to get out of here!"

Bren didn't wait for a reply, and started throwing what little they had left of supplies into his bag. He immediately ran over to Beyal's side, who hadn't awoken, despite all the noise. "C'mon, Beyal! Rise and Shine! Let's go!"

Beyal's eyes slowly eased open. He still had reddened cheeks, and when he sat up he swayed a lot.

"... Bren? What's... going on...?" He huffed out. There was another explosion, and Chase suddenly thrown back next to them. He shook his head for a moment before noticing where he landed.

"Strike Squad, we got to get out of here. You think you can walk?" He asked quickly. Beyal nodded slowly, but struggled to stand. As soon as he got to his feet, his legs gave out. Luckily, Bren caught him before he could fall.

"I think that's a no," Bren retorted, then looked back to the fight. Both Longfang and Deepsix were being thrown about like nothing. Chase growled a bit under his breath, and ran back to give commands.

Sure the Strike Squad was supposedly the best in all of S.T.O.R.M., but when put head to head with all of team Core Tech, they were hardly a challenge.

Unfortunately they were down three, and from the look of things, the Strike Squad wasn't going to let up.

The cave quaked again, and when Bren looked up, Longfang was rolling back into the cliff. It dodged some of the blasts that flew by, but before it could counter, Blockade and Deadfall tackled it to the ground. He wanted to run out and try to help, but still had Beyal slung over his shoulder. Not to mention that Jinja and Dax were who knows where.

"Oi! Suno!"

They both looked up back to Alpha, who was tossing his core absently into the air.

"As much as I like seeing you squirm, you better start getting serious before we take out the whole canyon!"

"Don't worry your pretty head off," Chase smirked, and quickly ran back out into the shallows of the river, "I'm always ready to take you on."

Alpha frowned deeply, and turned to the other members of the Strike Squad. He said something to them, and they all started to give commands to their monsuno. Blockade threw Longfang back at the entrance of the cave towards Bren and Beyal, and hit the ground before disappearing. Bren's eyes were wide. How could they take out his monsuno with only three attacks?

The other monsuno started to barrage the entrance with blasts, making it come down. Immediately, Bren half dragged Beyal further up into the cave, only looking back to see Chase still standing out in the middle of the river. In fact, it almost looked like he didn't even _notice _the cavern collapsing.

"Chase!" Bren shouted over the shower of rocks, but quickly lost sight of him entirely as the entrance was blocked, trapping him and Beyal on the inside of the cave.

Bren quickly ran over to where the entrance once was (half throwing Beyal to the side as he did so), and tried to pry some of the rocks out of the way. He barely moved three before realizing how hopeless it was.

He sank to the ground, knowing that Chase was now facing down the Strike Squad on his own (which also meant that S.T.O.R.M. would most likely be on their way by now). There was also something about the way their monsuno had defeated Longfang so easily that Bren couldn't shake. Was there something wrong with their monsuno? In which case Chase would definitely need back up.

Bren looked at the pile of rocks all around again. He could try to spin out Neo-Quickforce, but would risk having the entire cave collapse since it was much too small. And on top of that, Jinja and Dax were still nowhere to be seen. Unless...

He turned back around. Beyal was sitting on the ground half awake, but was also a few feet away from the tunnel that lead inward. The group had all agreed not to go in (at least until the morning), but at this point it seemed like the only way out.

Or the way that Jinja and Dax had gone.

Bren grumbled a little. He wasn't sure about going blindly into some tunnel without knowing where it went, or even leaving Chase to fight on his own, potentially leaving Jinja and Dax behind as well. But what could he do? Wait for S.T.O.R.M. to come dig them out? There was no way he was going to sit around on the sidelines with his best friend out fighting on his own.

"...Well, let's go," Bren muttered, more to himself as walked back over and half dragged Beyal to his feet up the slope into the tunnel.

HLP

Chase's eyes lingered on the remains of the cave entrance. He knew full well that Bren was capable of getting out (if not him then Beyal), and would only take a few minutes before spinning out a monsuno to break through the rubble. Either that or he would sit tight and wait for the battle to be over. After all, Chase beat Alpha before and would probably have the same result. That and Jinja and Dax should've heard the commotion by now and would be there any second.

"Hey Alpha!" Chase shouted, wadding in the river. He could see the red-haired teen still standing on one of the cliffs, though it looked like it would give out soon.

"So you ready to battle Suno?" Alpha boasted. He jumped down, landing in the deeper part of the river, and emerged ten feet away from Chase. He still wore that smirk as he ran his hands through his wet hair. "What do you think? One on one?"

"Sure why not," Chase said. He could easily take out Alpha's monsuno with Locke, and since he was offering for a one on one, Chase wouldn't refuse. After all, Alpha was the kind of guy to let his pride get the best of him. Even now he would rather go head to head with Chase then outnumber him for an easy victory.

Alpha snapped his fingers, and the rest of his team called back their monsuno. Chase did the same for Deepsix. Now it was just Locke and Tripwire face to face.

"First one to be called back is the loser," Alpha said, and immediately leapt back, "Tripwire!"

"Locke!"

"ATTACK!"

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><p>AN: Not too happy with this chapter, but will post another tomorrow because things get really good in the next one!

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	14. Chapter 14

A/N:Thanks to KaimelarTheDreamer, ChasexJinjaForever, and Glowblade998 for the reviews.

Enjoy!

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><p>Man did that girl have to make up her mind. Did she like him or not?<p>

Of course it wasn't like he cared or anything. There were more pressing matters that Dax had to attend to anyway. Like catch a few Z's before they had to head out. The group would have to move out before the sun rose, otherwise they would get caught in the direct heat again.

He stopped when he saw movement in front of him. When Dax looked up, he was face to face with Hargrave.

"Well well well. Look what the cat dragged over," Dax remarked, taking out Airswitch's core. The butler, however, made no moves, and only held out an envelope. Dax eyed it suspiciously, and didn't move.

"Dr. Klipse sends his regards," Hargrave said, handing the envelope to one of his metal claws. It extended out to Dax, who stepped back a little when it came close. It dropped to the ground daintily, but Dax didn't take his eyes off the old man.

"Think of this as a little... _advance_ of information he thought you would find interesting," Hargrace said, and turned his back to leave. Dax didn't stop him. He only looked down at the envelope.

It was large, with a red seal on the back. A bright letter "E" in the middle of it. Dax had half the mind to rip it up right there, or even throw it into the river and let it float by.

Despite his urge to do so, he ripped the top open and deposited its contents.

His eyes widened at the images he saw.

"What is this?!" He demanded. Hargrave stopped, and turned his head with a mild smirk.

"I'm sure that you thought that Dr. Klipse was joking when he said he found your sweet mother, right?" He said, then turned away again, "But rest assure he was being quite serious."

Dax was silent, and didn't stop the old man as he continued to walk away. How could it be? He was there when his mother...

And still, the photos in front of him didn't lie. There she was. In the flesh, with that smile that he could only remember in dreams.

He clenched the envelope in his other hand, gritting his teeth.

That's when the earth started to shake, and he heard a monsuno give out a loud shriek.

HLP

The night couldn't get any worse. First they get stuck in the middle of the desert, then Beyal gets sick, she gives a kiss to Dax.

And now Six has shown up.

"Wh-what do you want?" She demanded. He had a rather passive look on his face, and held his hands up to show he meant no harm, but she wasn't going to take that chance.

"I came here to find Chase Suno and defeat him," Six stated, and then lowered his hands, "for my father."

"Oh, right. Your father," Jinja said, rolling her eyes a bit. No doubt Dr. Klipse having one of his loony experiments again, "Let me guess. He sent you to come get Chase so he can make that monsuno-human hybrid, hm?"

Six shuffled his feet uncomfortably. Jinja did have a menacing stare when she needed it, and man was she letting him have it.

"Actually... I need Chase's help." Jinja raised a brow in suspicion.

"Well... You see. Ever since I lost to him, father has been rather... impatient with me," Six said, staring at his feet, "And I know if I can bring Chase Suno to him, then maybe father will see me differently."

"Trust me buddy. Dr. Klipse isn't the kind of guy to change immediately," Jinja said, waving her hand absently around, "Besides, you're better off without him in your life."

Six was silent at the comment, still looking down at his feet anxiously. "He is all that I've had," he murmured softly, "Sometimes it feels like Chase Suno is taking my father away from me..." His hands clenched into fists, and Jinja watched his reactions like a hawk. If things turned south fast, she wouldn't hesitate to show Six a thing or two.

His hands unclenched, and he looked up with a perplexed look, "What was that by the way?"

"What was what?" She asked, not letting him out of her sight.

"That thing that you and that other boy did a moment ago. Where your lips touched each other," Six said, pointed at his own lips.

"Y-you mean a kiss?" Jinja asked. Six held a serious look before nodding slowly. She honestly had to fight the urge to laugh. Of course Dr. Klipse wouldn't bother explaining the basics of love to his clone. The man didn't have an ounce of it to spare.

"Well... Usually when one person wants to express their strong feelings to another, t-they give them a-a kiss," Jinja explained, twiddling her thumbs as she spoke. Six had a vacant expression as she spoke.

"Were you mad at him?"

"Oh believe me, I am more then mad at him now," Jinja snapped, crossing her arms tightly. If Dax even brings it up once, then he'd be more then sorry.

"So... To express my hate towards Chase Suno, I should kiss him," Six stated.

Now Jinja couldn't hold in her laughter.

"What's so funny?" He asked monotonously as Jinja held her side, bursting with laughter.

"It's- It's nothing!" She giggled out. After a moment, she cleared her throat, "It's just that. Usually a kiss is used to express _love_ and attraction to another person. Not anger."

"Oh... I guess that would warrant laughter," Six said, almost sadly. It got awkwardly silent, and she suddenly had a shard of guilt as she stood there.

Luckily, a sudden explosion ended that silence.

'That sounded close,' Jinja thought, then gasped, 'Guys!'

"What did you do?!" She exclaimed, pulling out Charger's core. Before Six could answer, there was a loud cry in the distance. It sounded like a monsuno, but it wasn't too familiar. Immediately, Six raised his hands defensively.

"N-nothing!" He stammered, "I just came here to find Chase."

There was another boom in the distance, followed by more shrieking.

"I don't mean to fight- that is unless you want to- but only if you want to! But if your going to find him that can wait until later, that is if I can go with you-"

"Agh! I don't have time for you," Jinja said and charged right past Six, ignoring most of his ramblings. When she was a few yards away, she turned back to see that he had not followed her, oddly enough. He just stood where she left him, and continued to watch her for a moment. She got a chill from the lifeless look he was giving her. She almost wanted to go back and battle him, if only to get that annoying look off his face.

The sound of Locke in the distance reminded her of the others, however.

She looked back towards the direction of their camp, and started running forward again. She could still feel Six's eyes lingering on her, but knew that he wouldn't follow. After all, he wasn't looking for a fight. Even when he mentioned Chase, there was some resentment in his voice, but there was also something else.

Something more sorrowful.

* * *

><p>AN: I had way too much fun writing out Six and Jinja's conversation. Poor guy's just a little lost.

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	15. Chapter 15

A/N: I had to rewatch a few episodes to figure out the strike squad's personalities a bit better. Their English dubbed voices are pretty decent. Though I can't say the same for Chase or Beyal (I watched most of the episodes in Japanese with a few exceptions). I can't wait to rewrite more of their parts into the story.

Thanks to KaimelarTheDreamer, ChasexJinjaForever, and Myra the Stark for the reviews as always.

Enjoy!

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><p>"Locke! Jaw of Light!"<p>

"Tripwire! Plasma Repeater!"

It had been at least five minutes since Bren had left with Beyal into the cave, which entrance had now collapsed. That just left Chase and Alpha to battle it out in the shallows of the river. For the most part, Locke was winning, if only because of Alpha letting Tripwire out earlier.

"Terra Barrage!" Alpha called out. Tripwire charged up for an attack, but Locke swiftly dodged. It slammed the other monsuno back into the water, giving a roar of victory.

"Told you I could kick your can for the third time!" Chase exclaimed as Tripwire got to its feet and charged back at Locke, both falling into the deeper end of the river. Alpha grit his teeth in anger, seeing the difficulty that his monsuno was having.

"Tripwire! Regroup this way!"

Chase grinned, knowing that his victory was to be expected. As soon as Alpha was taken care of, he could get Bren and Beyal out and go on the lookout for Jinja and Dax.

What he wasn't expecting was the blast that came from above, hitting both of the other monsuno. In a flash of yellow, Tripwire was summoned back.

"Alpha!" Both Chase and Alpha looked up to where the blast came from to see a monsuno with an eerie white glow standing on one of the ledges above them. It almost looked like a wolf, only half of its body was covered in scales that mirrored the light of the moon above it. In one quick motion, it swept down, colliding with Locke in a flurry of white and blue.

"Locke!" Chase called out, but saw Locke slowly being dragged down under into the river. He thrashed about, desperately trying to get out of the other monsuno's grasp. Chase could hear Alpha's teammates calling out to their leader, who was now watching with wide eyes.

Locke burst out of the water, almost landing on both Chase and Alpha as he threw the monsuno off and onto the rubble of the cave entrance. It hissed out at him, before letting out an ear-piercing screech.

"What's going on Chase?!" Alpha yelled out. Chase honestly didn't know how to respond. This was obviously another rogue monsuno, and yet it was different. It's movements weren't as violent, and there was the slightest hesitation when it came to lunging out at Locke. It gave out another hiss before charging at Locke once more. Luckily, it was thrown to the side by Charger.

"Chase!" He looked over to see Jinja running towards him.

"Jinja! Great. We can get out of here," He said, glancing over to the battle still ensuing. On the other side he saw Alpha going back up the cliffs to his other teammates. "Where's Dax?"

For some reason, a blush streaked across Jinja's cheeks, "I- uh... thought he was with you guys." She glanced around, "Wait. Where's Bren? And Beyal?"

"Alpha blasted the entrance to the cave, so they're probably still trapped inside if they haven't gone into the tunnels yet ," Chase said, as Locke gave out a roar when the other monsuno hissed out, "They had us outnumbered, so I challenged Alpha to a one on one battle." He shrugged his shoulders, "As you can see: I won."

Jinja rolled her eyes, "That's great and all, but we need to find the others before S.T.O.R.M. gets here!"

Unfortunately for them, it was too late. Spotlights flashed as the S.T.O.R.M. copters flew overhead, blinding them. Before they new it, S.T.O.R.M. soldiers was swooping down on them.

GLD

He hated walking. Throughout all the time that they had to travel the world, he hated walking. It also didn't help that every so often that Bren would go right into a wall every few minutes as he and Beyal walked through the cave.

Although shortly after a few minutes, Bren had to stop and heave Beyal onto his back so that he was now being awkwardly dragged along. Adrenaline had gotten them a lot farther then he thought, but now he was downright exhausted.

"Man I reaaally, hate this cave," Bren sighed, almost tripping for the tenth time. "Not that you don't already know that."

Beyal didn't respond, and had probably gone back to sleep a while ago. Bren sighed again, looking down at the Core Tablet. He was using the faint light from it as a flashlight, but with the battery almost dead, he wasn't sure whether or not to keep using it, especially since he should be using it as a map instead.

"It feels like we've been walking for hours, doesn't it?" Bren said, and stopped. Ahead was pitch black, leading into the depths of the tunnel even more.

Except it had now skewed into two paths.

"Aww crag," Bren muttered, looking back and forth between the paths. They either lead up and out, or down to nowhere, and there was no difference between the two of them.

"Great. This is just perfect," Bren frowned. He looked down to the Core Tablet, which was now on its last reserve of battery power. The light had dimmed considerably since they had started walking, and now he could barely see his hand in front of him.

"Even better..." He mumbled, letting his arm fall to the side. Now what? Should he keep going farther in? What if he went the wrong way, or Chase goes the other and they all separate? What if he just got them even more lost, or ran into bigger problems then the Strike Squad...

And what about Dax and Jinja? Did Chase meet up with them? Or did S.T.O.R.M. capture them all and were on their way to find him and Beyal?

Bren cursed, and kicked at one of the rocks on the floor. He watched as it kept rolling into the cave. Slowly, he sank to his knees, shoulders sagging in defeat.

"I guess we just wait here and see if they made it out, huh?" Bren said, head dropping down. He felt Beyal shift over his shoulders, mumbling something. Bren picked up the tablet, looking down as the battery continued to run out.

"Bren..." He jumped when he heard the voice right next to him. When he looked over, he could see Beyal looking at him with half lidded eyes. "Where... are we?"

"Nice of you to finally wake up," Bren huffed, "these tunnels supposedly lead back up to the surface. At least, they're supposed to..."

Beyal didn't respond, and slowly slumped onto one of the walls. When Bren looked back, he was holding his head again. Bren let out an exhausting sigh, and looked back down at the tablet, expecting some sort of sign.

Suddenly, there was laughter echoing throughout the cavern, surrounding them from all directions. Bren sucked in a breath, recognizing whose laughter it was.

"_Oh my! It looks like the little mousey are lost in the dark... What a shame..."_

Bren slowly got back to his feet. There was more giggling, but with the light dimming slowly, it was hard to tell where it was coming from. It had been awhile since they saw the lunatic, and it certainly wasn't the best encounter either.

"Don Pyro."

"_Oh? Does the little mousey want to fight? Too bad there's no room in here!" _Don Pyro giggled out. Bren took a few steps forward when suddenly there was the sound of something bouncing along the floor. When he looked down, Bren could see something move towards him. Before he new it, electricity was coursing through his body in a blinding flash. He let out a strangled cry, before falling to the ground.

"_Mueheehee! Poor little mousey!_" Don Pyro chuckled, stepping out into the faint light, his face shadowed in a menacing grin, "Too bad I don't need my pretty-pretty to take you on!"

"Urg... Damn..." Bren panted out. He could barely move now, trying to reach one of his cores. It was a bad idea to spin out in such a small area, but if he didn't do something fast, who knows what Don Pyro would do to them.

"Ah well... What a poor excuse of a game," He smirked, and glanced over Bren, "So where are all the other mousies? Can't just leave without them eh?" He took a few steps over Bren, and came to a halt. Slowly, Bren tilted his head over to see what he was looking at. Sure enough, Beyal had somehow managed to stand and was staring down Don.

But even in the slowly dimming light, Bren could recognize that green glow in his eyes from before.

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><p>AN: Don Pyro is such a weirdo. Another one of those characters that I had to keep some of his english speech mannerisms because it was so strange.

Review Review Review!


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Thanks to Rezonmon, KaimelarTheDreamer, and ChasexJinjaForever for the reviews.

Enjoy!

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><p>The troops swooped in quickly, taking everyone by surprise. Alpha watched as they ran past him, almost ignoring his presence. Confused, he backed off a bit towards the cliffs.<p>

"Alpha!" He heard a splash behind him, and the rest of the Strike Squad was behind him. Immediately, Alpha turned with anger.

"How did they get here so fast?" he exclaimed, "Who told them where we were! This was supposed to be _my _rematch!"

None of them said anything, and Alpha cursed. This was now the second time that Charlemange had interrupted his match between him and Chase, and now it was getting frustrating. The only reason he agreed to following them was because he knew that Chase was going to be there, and supposedly it was going to take S.T.O.R.M. at least a whole day to catch up with them.

"Uh... Alpha." He turned around to see Bravo looking sheepishly at his feet. He held out the communicator, "It's Commandant Charlemange."

Alpha pinched the bridge of his nose knowing what was to come, but took it anyway. As much as he hated that vile woman, she was their commander.

"… Ma'am?"

"WHY DID YOU NOT CONTACT ME YET? I 'AVE TROOPS SAYING ZAT ZEY 'AD YOU ON ZEIR MAP, ZITTING AROUND WATCHING!"

Alpha winced at the heavy accented yelling that was blasting in his ear.

"Um... could you repeat that Ma'am?" He asked timidly. He heard Commandant Charlemange huff, and then clear her throat.

"Tell me. Why is it zat when I send you all - the best that S.T.O.R.M. has to offer - to do one task, it takes you all night. But when I send my troops, they get things done within a 'alf 'our?"

Alpha opened his mouth, but couldn't find an answer. It was true that they had been watching over the group for a few hours now, and only attacked when Alpha saw two of his friends wander off on their own. Unfortunately, that was going to be the best time to strike, seeing that no one in the group would leave Chase alone. Alpha's jaw clicked shut.

"... It appears that we no longer need your services for all things concerning Chase Suno," she said, "Report back to base for your next mission. We'll deal with your punishment later."

"B-but Ma'am!" She hung up on him before he could even argue. Alpha stared blankly down at the communicator for a moment, before handing it back to Bravo.

"… So now what do we do?" Tango asked as they all continued to look down at the scene below them. Chase and his friends were fairing decently between the soldiers and the monsuno that appeared out of nowhere, but it probably wouldn't last much longer. Alpha brushed past them all, intending on scaling back up the cliffs.

"What else? Go back to S.T.O.R.M. of course," he grumbled. Charlemange would most likely be going down to the Southern base to collect Chase and-

Alpha stopped, and took one last glance back. Among the chaos he could see Chase and his other friend trying to get past everyone as the other monsuno continued to rage on.

"Where is the rest of Team Core Tech?" Alpha said. His team members blinked, and looked back in realization as well. He remembered the other two, who were probably weaving through the tunnels if not sitting behind the barrier of rocks. But what about the fifth member?

"They're probably hiding somewhere like a bunch of cowards," X-Ray said and shrugged. The rest of them silently agreed and continued their way towards the farther helicopters.

"C'mon Alpha," Kilo said, taking his shoulder, "the sooner we get back to the base, the sooner we can get Charlemange's lecture out of the way."

Reluctantly, Alpha let himself be led away by his teammates, casting one last glance over his shoulder in hopes that _maybe_, Chase would get away. If only for a third chance at a battle.

DLM

"Freeze! Don't move!" Soldiers flanked them on all sides, giving Chase and Jinja no way out. Locke was still engaged in battle with the other monsuno, which didn't acknowledge the presence of the troops, despite their massive numbers.

"Chase. What now?" Jinja whispered, holding up her hands when the soldiers held up their weapons.

"Stop talking and put your cores on the ground!" One of the soldiers demanded, raising his gun a little. Jinja felt sweat start to form on her brow, but slowly edged her hand down to her belt.

"...Well? Chase?" When she turned, she could see him looking around at the top of the cliffs, almost as if he was seeing something that wasn't there.

"… Chase!"

"Look out!"

There was a gust of wind, and the troops around them were gone. When Jinja looked, the wolf-like monsuno had thrown Locke straight into some of them, and charged right into the rest. The soldiers were now frantically trying to take the beast down, interest lost in Chase and Jinja. She took the opportunity as a chance to run.

"Chase, let's go!" she said, and motioned Charger over to them, "Quick, we have to get through to the tunnel- Chase?"

Suddenly, he took off towards the cliffs that the Strike Squad was previously occupying.

"Let's go!" Chase exclaimed, running through the chaos. Jinja ran after him, staying close on his heels as stray blasts went whizzing through the air. The other monsuno had finally noticed the soldiers, and was now actively fighting against all of them. Locke, on the other hand, was struggling to get back up.

"Locke! Return!" Chase shouted and held out Locke's core, and he disappeared into a blue flash back into the core. Jinja quickly followed suit with Charger. It was better to draw less attention to them and their monsuno when the soldiers already had their hands full. Chase kept running, and Jinja struggled to weave around the chaos as stray blasts would come whizzing by.

Just when they almost got out of the shallows and over to the shore, there was the click of a gun from behind them.

"Not so fast!" Jinja turned, only to be struck by one of the guards. Falling into the water with a splash, she could barely make out the figures looming above them. She could also hear Chase try to struggle, but saw more quick movements and then he was silenced.

In the haze of her eyes, Jinja could also see the soldiers swarming around the other monsuno. It continued to hiss out at them, but was cornered by another dozen troops. Cords and nets were launched at it, thrashing and turning to escape.

The rest of her vision was obscured by a blindfold, and she was yanked and pushed along, hardly able to walk on her own. There was shouting and monsuno cries in the background, but could hardly tell if they had caught the beast. After a moment, she could hear the roar of a helicopter, and knew that she and Chase would be on their way to the S.T.O.R.M. base.

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><p>AN: Story's picking up again!

Review Review Review!


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: These chapters are getting harder to put out, just because I revise them many times over and have needed to change things from the original story. I have to thank everyone extra lots this time if only because it gives me more motivation to keep it up.

Thanks to Myra the Sark, ChasexJinjaForever, and KaimelarTheDreamer for the reviews!

Enjoy!

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><p>The sun was barely coming over the horizon when Dax had reached the other entrance to the series of tunnels. It was clear from the way the S.T.O.R.M. helicopters circled the area that they were looking for someone. He wasn't sure if they were looking for him, the rest of Team Core Tech, or something else entirely.<p>

Oddly enough, the creepy butler was willing to direct him in the right direction of the rest of the team, avoiding S.T.O.R.M. and arriving at the cave quickly. It was strange that Klipse would want the team to stay together, especially since all the times they encountered the man he tried to take on Chase alone or use his tricks to separate them. When he was a few feet away from the entrance, he glanced inside to see that no one was in sight.

Of course he wasn't about to go charging right in, especially since Hargrave was the one to give him directions. There could be an ambush waiting for him after all, or he would just get lost since he didn't have anyone to track. He also didn't have a light with him, so he would pretty much be walking blindly throughout the maze below.

'Nothing to do but wait I suppose,' he though, taking a seat under the shade of the cave. After looking out to see that he wasn't followed, not even seeing the butler, he settled down in case the rest of the team really did show up. Five minutes passed before he glanced down at the photos that he still held.

One of them was a picture of him and his mom back before the war they got caught up in. He never had many pictures of the two of them to begin with, or even with his father. But he could recognize his own face hidden under baby fat and rounded eyes. His mom was standing next to him, and had an intense air to her stance as she smirked at the camera. Intimidating, but Dax found it comforting.

The next two photos were more recent shots. His mother definitely looked older, but not by many years. She still had that overbearing presence, but had a hint of tiredness in her eyes. The background was unrecognizable, but was in some sort of city. One of the pictures had her standing near a train station, the other in a cafe.

Dax traced the edges faintly with his finger tips, letting them curl when they reached the corners.

"... Mother."

There was a noise from above, and he saw the S.T.O.R.M. helicopters soar overhead. They moved towards the horizon, and it took Daz a moment to realize that they were moving in two different directions. He watched for a moment as one headed for the south and the rest went towards the north. Faintly on the horizon, he could make out the outline of a town, most likely a port.

'Why would they all be going in that direction?' Dax thought. Only one went back, meaning they had found _some _reason to go back. On the other hand, the rest of the 'copters were probably searching for Team Core Tech, which meant there was a good chance that Chase and the others had gotten away.

The echo of footsteps sounded throughout the cave entrance. Immediately, Dax pocketed the photos he was still holding, slowly standing. He continued to look, not seeing anything in the dark depths of the tunnel. He edged to the side, just in case it was a S.T.O.R.M. soldier, or worse.

There was the sound of someone tripping and a small squeak, and then a string of curses and complaining. Dax let out a sigh, and stepped out.

"Took you long enough, Glasses."

Bren stumbled out of cave, dust covering his front and patches of his face. His hair was even more disheveled then before, and there were dark circles starting to form under his eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah," He huffed. "You wouldn't do any better if you had to stumble along in the dark with barely a few hours of sleep."

Dax frowned, looking over Bren's shoulder, "Where's everyone else?"

"Chase stayed behind to take on the Strike Squad. We didn't know where you and Jinja were, so we ran into the cave."

Dax raised a brow, "We?"

"Me and Beyal," Bren said, looking back into the cave, "Uhh... He _was_ behind me... Beyal? You in there?"

Dax went inside, stepping carefully as to not trip like Bren did. He took a few steps before his foot nudged something. When he looked down, he recognized the familiar coat.

"Don Pyro!"

Sure enough, the crazed man was lying face down on the ground, hands cuffed behind him. When Dax nudged him with his foot again, he let out a groan.

"Oh yeah. Forgot to mention that," Bren said, lightly scratching his cheek, "He snuck up on us when we were half way through. We were just lucky that Beyal managed to knock him out."

Dax bent down so he could get a better look at the insane man."Monkfish did this?" he asked, surprised. When he flipped him over, Don Pyro had a face that was turning purple from bruises. There was no way that Beyal could do this, even if it was self defense. The only way he would do such a thing would be because of that... _thing_ from before.

"Surprising isn't it?" Bren laughed, "I wouldn't have believed it if I wasn't there myself- Oh look! There he is now."

Dax's eyes shot up immediately. He could make out the faint outline of the white-haired boy slowly stumbling through the dark.

"... Bren? Dax?" He asked nervously. When he came closer, his eyes didn't hold the vicious look from before, only panic. Dax let out a sigh of relief.

"What's going on?" Beyal asked, scratching his head.

"What do you mean 'what's going on'? Don't tell me you don't remember flipping through the air, throwing punches, and taking out Don Pyro in a blink of an eye?" Bren said, shrugging. Dax ignored him, and walked up to the monk. Gently, he put a hand on his shoulder.

"You alright there Monkfish?"

Beyal continued to scratch his head in thought, looking to the ground with an uneasiness, "I... think so... What were we doing again?"

Just then, Don Pyro let out a loud groan, followed by a few mumbles. He slowly lifted his head, struggling to move his arms.

"Urg... Why does my head hurt..." He moved his arms, but turned in shock to see the handcuffs, "W-What?! Since when did the mouseys get the jump on me?!"

"Save it, ya lunatic," Dax said, and walked over him, "C'mon. We gotta meet up with the others."

"Wait, so Chase and Jinja are with you?" Bren asked. Dax stopped at the mention of the other two members of Team Core Tech. While he didn't know exactly where Chase was, he was sure Jinja was still somewhere in the area.

… But then again, after the conversation he and Chase had the night before, Dax believed that Chase had probably decided to go North on his own. Dax let out a sigh at the thought, knowing that it would just be a pain trying to track down both their leader and the princess.

"Well… I don't know exactly where the others are," Dax admitted, and peeked out the tunnel a bit, "But I got a general idea."

He turned back to the two of them, and saw Bren frowning. He had an unsure look on his face, but wasn't objecting. Beyal, on the other hand, was kneeling down next to Don Pyro, curiously looking at him. At the attention, Don Pyro started getting nervous.

"W-what are you looking at?!" he said, trying to hide the fear in his voice.

"… Did I… do that..?" Beyal asked, really to himself.

"Just you wait! Once I get a hold of my pretty pretty I'll pay you back tenfold!" Don Pyro started to shout. Bren and Dax exchanged looks before Bren walked next to them and nudged at Beyal's shoulder. Slowly, he stood up, giving an uneasy glance back at the crazed man before following along.

"W-Wait! You're not just going to leave me here are you?!" Don Pyro shouted more, starting to flail helplessly on the ground.

"For a matter of fact," Bren started, giving him a smirk, "Yeah. We are."

As they made their way out into the desert, they could still hear Don Pyro cursing at them. Dax was too keen on the idea of leaving the strange man behind, but it was safer to leave him behind, especially if he really was followed by Hargrave.

GLM

The screen was blaring with all different colors. Statistics and graphs littered across it in a blinding streak. Commandant Marshall Charlemange was clenching her gloved hands in rage. Suno and his groups and somehow managed to slip away, making the raid entirely useless.

The only good thing that came out of it was the new monsuno that they had captured a few hours ago. It was being kept down south for almost a full day now, but there has been little information given about it.

"Get me Commander Trey!" She exclaimed. More buttons were tapped, and soon she was face to face with the commander.

"Ma'am!" He saluted.

"Make sure zat zee monsuno is given full attention! Don't let it out of your sight until I get zere!" She commanded, turning her back with the sweep of her coat.

Commander Trey hesitated for a moment, "About that-"

Slowly, Charlemange turned with a sour look, "... Is zere something wrong, Commander?"

"Well... Actually. Things are much better then you think," He said, a slight smile appearing on his face. Charlemange turned back, crossing her arms.

"Go on."

"You see. We actually managed to take Chase Suno and one of his friends into custody as well. They are on their way to the base along with the new monsuno."

Charlemange's lips curled into a twisted smile, "I see... Well. In zat case, make sure you give _him_ full attention before I get their. Sweep the area for zee rest of his little group. I'm sure zat they 'ave not gone far."

"Ma'am."

"One last thing," She said, bringing up the map of the area, "Which one of his little friends did you capture?"

"The girl Ma'am." Her smirk quickly disappeared.

"I see... Zat is all!" After another salute, Commander Trey disappeared in a blink.

She had been hoping that the reckless street rat would be the one to be taken into custody. They had unfinished business to attend to after all. And that was one of the few things on her list of priorities.

"Commandant Marshall!" A troop said, running up to her and saluting.

"What is it?"

"The troops have picked up tracks leading out into the desert. They seem to be leading east. There are quite a few, actually."

Charlemange put a thumb to her lip in thought. At least three of them should belong to Suno's group. And even if they didn't, the soldiers were combing through the area and would find them eventually.

"Send a squad to follow zem. Make sure zey are prepared for a fight," she said. The soldier gave another salute, and darted off into the hallway. She turned back to look over the control deck. It would only be a few more hours before they get to the base, and there were even fewer places for the rest of them to hide.

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><p>AN: Review Review Review!


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Going to be gone till December 3rd, so here's an extra chapter for the week.

Thanks to KaimelarTheDreamer, ChasexJinjaForever, and Myra the Sark for the reviews!

Enjoy!

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><p>It didn't take too long for Hargrave and Six to get out of the canyon and around towards the tunnel entrance. They had scoped out the area most of the night before planning out their next actions, and knew all the twists and turns to get out quick while avoiding S.T.O.R.M. Now it was just a matter of time of finding Don Pyro.<p>

Hargrave grumbled under his breath at that last thought. When Don Pyro didn't show up at the meeting spot, the butler knew that he either got into trouble or was having way too much fun with his task. The crazed man tended to be a nuisance rather than helpful in the past, but now he was pushing it.

Strangely, Six was even more silent then usual. Sure he wasn't the most talkative, but he would at least say _something,_ if only a threat to Chase Suno and his friends. Earlier, Hargrave had to go out a search for the teen after leading the desert punk to the tunnels. He found Six at the meeting spot, though he had a strange urge to find Chase Suno. Not to fight him like before though, just to… _talk._

Now he was simple trailing behind, almost wistfully.

There was a noise in the distance, and when they finally got to the top of the cliffs, they found that it was a string of curses was emanating from the tunnel entrance. Hargrave sighed at the sound.

"Well well. It looks like _someone_ was successful, hmm?" he said out loud as he approached the cave. He heard shuffling inside, signaling that the person inside heard him.

"Clockwork man! Untie me now!"

Hargrave looked inside to see a writhing Don Pyro on the ground, obviously trying to escape his own handcuffs. The butler tutted at the foolishness of the man and took a few steps inside.

"Failed again have you? I don't see why Dr. Klipse keeps you around," he said, stepping a few feet away from the man on the ground.

"It wasn't my fault this time! My pretty pretty couldn't get the sneaky little mouseys!" Don Pyro defended, "Now get these off so that I can pay them back!"

"Shouldn't you be able to do something as simple as lock pick your own handcuffs?" Hargrave laughed mockingly, but extended his metal claws to take apart the cuffs. Because of the way that the cuffs were designed, he started drilling through one of the metal holsters instead of the extremely short chain.

"Don't get smart with me old man!" Don Pyro snarled over the sound of metal, "I could easily snap you in half with my pretty pretty!"

One of the cuffs popped off, and the metal arms were drawn away. Don Pyro quickly twisted around till he was sitting, rubbing where the metal was scraping his wrist. The other cuff was still on, and he started clawing at it in an attempt to get it off.

"Quite the barbarian aren't you," Hargrave said, somewhat in disgust. He never did like the man. Much too uncivilized in his methods.

"You're one to talk old man," Don Pyro growled, "Over there with your metal arms and and shiny things. You need to get your hands dirty once in a while!"

Hargrave rolled his eyes and turned to walk out of the cave. As soon as they get back to the lab, he was going to make sure that Dr. Klipse send the insane man far away on another mission. "And I suppose this means that you couldn't get a hold of the _item_ that Klipse was talking about?"

Don Pyro got silent, and grit his teeth.

"It was little white-haired mousey that got in the way," he said lowly, and snapped the remaining cuff off in anger, "As soon as my pretty pretty gets a hold of them, that one will get a special place in my collection-"

Hargrave sighed at the crazed man's threats and started walking out a the cave. He wasn't about to concern himself with what the mercenary was rambling about, especially if it hindered on the mission at hand. It was bad enough with the clone, and now it was like watching over two incapable-

He stopped. Slowly, he looked around the cave, and then back to the entrance. He cursed and ran out see the vast desert for miles. Six was gone.

"Damn!" Hargrave cursed again, and turned to Don Pyro, "This is your fault!"

"Oh? Can't keep your eyes on the brat your babysitting? Poor old man," Don Pyro said with a smirk and clasped his hands together, "Looks like you'll have to tell Klipse about your little blunder eh?"

"Whatever," Hargrave dismissed, walking out a few feet to contact Klipse, "Besides, if I'm reporting anything, I'm reporting _your_ little blunder."

Pulling up his tablet, Hargrave started clicking a few buttons. As far as any of them were considered, Six was the least of their worries. He wasn't exactly fit to take care of himself out in the desert, and would probably be looking for them after a few hours. If not, he would be searching high and low for Chase Suno and his group and finish what Don Pyro was suppose to start. Regardless, Dr. Klipse would certainly be upset in one way or another.

The tablet beeped annoyingly, and he looked down. The signal to Dr. Klipse wasn't connecting for some reason. Hargrave thought for a moment before looking up the number of a certain mercenary. One he knew that was in the area, and one that would solve their problem.

GDP

"... Dammit," Jeredy cursed under his breath. The new monsuno energy had really messed up his system, and it was clear that it would take at least a few days before the system would be up and running again. He was able to make contact with some of his hidden labs throughout the world, yet he still couldn't pinpoint Chase's location.

"Out of all of my inventions, the Core Tablet is the one that is supposed to last through thick and thin. There's no way it would be so faulty…"

His eyes lingered once again in the desert. It was much too large for him to scour on his own, and Jon Ace was still in no condition to be moved outside of the containment field, even with the orb that Chase had given him.

"Time… I need more time!" He said under his breath. He heard a noise and looked up to see Jon waking up. He let out a low groan, slowly stretching in the small space.

"Sorry Jon. If there was a bigger train, then it wouldn't be so uncomfortable," Jeredy said, and turned back to the screen. Since he couldn't get a hold of Chase, he might as well try to speed up the process to cure Jon.

Going over to another screen, Jeredy clicked on a few files before scripts and graphs popped on the screen. He had done a bit of research when Chase had last visited and given him the Crystal with the monsuno essence, but it was difficult to tell exactly what would happen, especially with Jon at an unstable condition. Regardless, they were out of options.

Soon, Jeredy found himself being engrossed in the readings surrounding the strange energy. Chase was right when he said it had special properties, but whether it would be helpful was another thing. The crystal was most likely a piece of the original meteor that had infused the Earth with monsuno essence, which explained the raw energy. Except this energy was much more pure then the samples that Jeredy had collected so far. It was also a lot more stable then those samples, which explained why Chase had reacted so strongly to it.

He continued testing, comparing samples and sources and diving further into the physical makeup of the small fragment. Minutes soon turned to hours as he continued analyzing further.

Suddenly, the train lurched, and the lights flickered. Jeredy wrote it off as the sudden weather changes. While he was currently traveling in the tropical regions, the temperatures had started to drop for some reason. That would be the next thing he would have to look into. Jon had started to get antsy in the container again.

"Calm down, Jon. I'm sure it's just- AH!"

The train came to a sudden halt, knocking Jeredy and Jon to the ground. Jon gave out a short cry, that turned into a low growl.

"Ugh. Sorry Jon," Jeredy said, "There's probably something on the main line. I'll go check."

Jeredy started to bring up the main controls of the train to see what was going on, when in the reflection of the screen, he could see a pair of large, glowing eyes staring out at him through the train window.

HLP

"Any news on our little friend Chase?" Dr. Klipse said, lightly tapping his finger on his armrest. Hargrave had just contacted him not too long ago, although it was hard to get a signal on him, and there was static feedback that he had never heard before.

"I'm afraid not sir," Hargrave said, "But I did manage to deliver that _package_ that you wanted."

A smile crept onto Dr. Klipse's lips, "I see. Then I suspect that everything will run smoothly yes?"

"... About that sir," his butler started, and shuffled a bit, "You see Six, unfortunately, has run off once again. It seems he had brief contact with one of Chase Suno's group, but it is hard to tell what exactly he revealed to them."

Dr. Klipse was silent. Six had become increasingly disobedient throughout the time that he had encountered Chase Suno, and it was obvious that there was something troubling his clone. He swore he had gotten rid of those insecurities, but it appears that he was mistaken. He would have to correct his shortcomings soon.

"There is also something else, sir," Dr. Klipse looked up, "It seems that Charlemange has captured Chase Suno, and the rest of them have taken out Don Pyro at one point."

"Do you have a pin on their location?" Dr. Klipse asked, mouth now set in a frown.

"I'm afraid I have to attend to... Uh... Your _son_ for the moment, seeing as how he ran off," Hargrave said. Dr. Klipse scoffed. Typical clone.

"Still," Hargrave continued, "I had set up a safety net ahead of time, and _they_ will be in contact with you within the hour."

"Excellent. In the mean time, try to locate where they took Suno. I'll be there shortly," Dr. Klipse said. Hargrave gave a small bow before disappearing from the screen. He wasn't afraid of making himself known, especially to Charlemange. The woman may have an iron grip on the militia of S.T.O.R.M., but she was far from having an iron grip on the rest of the world.

What Klipse was concerned about was Six and his need for attention. He was the least defective of the clones, and yet he was disobeying Klipse in more ways then one. All within the past month.

'I guess I'll just have to deal with him when I go get Suno,' Dr. Klipse though, turning Backslash's core in between his fingers.

* * *

><p>AN: For those that don't remember what Jeredy is talking about, refer back to the end of the episode "Knights" when Chase wins the Crystal of Tav Kagah against Alpha.

Review Review Review!


	19. Chapter 19

A/N: Came back a day early, so here you go. Chapters will be getting steadily longer from here on.

Thanks to ChasexJinjaForever, Myra the Sark, KaimelarTheDreamer, and Rezonmon for the reviews.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>The ocean was starting to come into view, having a serene look as the sun rose in the distance. The Strike Squad sat silently in the ship as it took off that morning, going farther down south and away from the desert. Most likely, they would be going back to their home base and wait until another mission arose. Normally it would've been a good thing, except...<p>

The ship swayed suddenly, hitting turbulence for a whole minute. The group had to hold fast to their seats for a moment before the ship evened out.

"... Damn. You would think they could steer a cargo ship better, eh?" X-Ray retorted.

"It can't be helped if they kept all the good ships and more experienced members of S.T.O.R.M. behind," Kilo said shrugging, "After all. That monsuno back there looked mighty fierce."

The ship swayed again, and they all gripped tightly to their seats as it rocked. It took another minute before calming.

"I just wish these pilots could be a bit more experienced, seeing that we're about to go over the ocean soon," X-Ray grumbled. Tango crossed her arms and gave a scoff.

"... If you ask me, skill definitely beats experience," she huffed, "We could easily capture that monsuno-"

"But _we_ didn't." They all jumped when Alpha had finally said something during the whole trip. They quieted down and cast their eyes to their feet. Alpha gripped his hands together, knowing that it was because of his stupid idea that got them sent back without so much as another thought. This was the second time, and now they would probably never get put on another serious mission.

"If anything we should've just pushed our way through," Bravo said, "Don't we get higher authority in certain situations?"

"I'm sure the soldiers back there were told by Commandant Marshall Charlemange to ignore whatever we had to say," X-Ray pipped up, "It wouldn't have mattered. That probably would've been seen as treason."

"Oh come now," Tango said leaning back, her arms still crossed tightly, "Commandant Marshall hand picked us all herself. We all swore our loyalty to her and S.T.O.R.M., so she really had nothing to worry about."

Alpha looked out the window, now loosing interest in his squad's conversation. He stared off for a few hours until it was about noon. He sighed in relief, they were almost out of the wretched desert.

The ship rocked violently. Turbulence again. One of the emergency lights went off from above, illuminating them with red light.

"What's-"

A shrilled cry from outside the ship, and when Alpha looked outside, a large, white blur flew past the window. The ship swayed even more violently, making everyone yelp at the sudden movement. It took well over ten minutes for the crew to get it stable, alarms blaring and lights flashing.

"Wh-what the heck was that?!" X-Ray stuttered.

"Probably another ship or something," Bravo said, "These idiots can't steer anything."

Tango suddenly let out a chuckle, "I'm sure that even _you_ could steer better."

"Exactly- Hey!"

Alpha kept his eyes fixed on the window. That large shadow... That wasn't another airship, plane, or helicopter at all. Much too quick. He walked up and looked in one of the back windows and saw that it was a bird. A very_ large _bird. That only meant-

"Monsuno," he stated. Everyone turned to him.

"What?"

"A monsuno," he repeated, and turned to the rest of them, "It was a monsuno."

They looked at him with blank expressions.

"What do you mean a monsuno? There's no reason for anyone to spin out. Especially since it came from the ocean," Kilo said. Alpha shook his head slowly.

"No. I'm sure of it," he said, and looked back out the window, "And I'm sure that it looked like the other one from before_._ White. Colorless. No one in control."

"Are you sure? What if someone was riding it?" Kilo asked. X-Ray let out a weird laugh.

"Like someone could ride a monsuno across the ocean. There's no way it could last that long," he said.

"..No," Alpha said, shaking his head slowly, "It's like that one we saw before S.T.O.R.M. showed up. You guys saw how there wasn't anyone around."

The group exchanged looks, unsure of what to say. Finally, Bravo turned to him.

"So... what do we do?" He asked. Alpha looked down to his hands. What do they do? It's not like they can oppose Charlemange's orders. But if S. .M. was looking for those monsuno, then this could be the chance to redeem themselves.

"Alright, I got a plan," Alpha said, and huddled closer to the group, "We have to find out where that monsuno came from. There's a good chance that there's a source of monsuno energy there."

"Wait. How do you know about how monsuno energy is made? It can't be that simple," Kilo said skeptically.

"It actually is," X-Ray said, leaning back a little, "Commandant Marshall Charlemange once spoke about a well that had unlimited amounts of monsuno essence pouring from it. She saw it with her own eyes. Except..."

"... Except?" Alpha asked, eagerly.

"Except Suno of course," X-Ray shrugged, "The well was destroyed. Along with the entrance to it." Alpha let out a sigh. Of course Chase had something to do with it. Still-

"That can't have been the only one. There has to be more sources out there," Alpha continued, "And if we find one, I'm sure that Charlemange would give us another chance! C'mon guys, we don't have anything to lose!"

"Except our jobs and home," Tango frowned, "Look. I get that your upset over your little brawl with Suno, but the last thing we need is to get on Commandant Marshall's bad side and lose everything we worked hard for."

Alpha bit his lip. As much as he wanted to get back at Suno, his squad member was right. One more outburst and they would be kicked to the curb. Charlemange was ruthless like that.

The ship's swaying stirred him from his thoughts again. It jerked and threw them all in the air for a split second before going up.

"What the hell is up with these pilots?!" X-Ray exclaimed, "Can't they even fly a basic four-engine cargo ship-"

The ship came to a sudden halt, and they were all sent flying up to the cockpit. When he looked out to the front window, Alpha gasped when he realized why.

A white wolf-like monsuno was now looking through the glass, claws digging into the front. Without warning, it opened it's mouth and let out a beam of light that was sent flying at the group.

HLP

The sun was now bearing down on the three of them in an intense wave of heat. It also didn't help that, without their bags, they had no way of storing water. The small group had been walking for most of the morning, and while they had not encountered any monsuno or S.T.O.R.M., none of them had seen Chase or Jinja.

At the moment, Beyal was more troubled about what happened in the past day then their current situation. When he tried to think back to what happened, there were many blank spaces in his memory. There were bits and pieces, but he could hardly recall any of it. At any other time he would've meditated over it, trying to get the answers and think more clearly.

But at the moment, they had to focus on finding the others.

"Geez Dax. Why couldn't we keep going down the creek? It's too hot out here!" Bren complained, holding the Core Tablet above his head as both a makeshift shade and to charge it.

"Because," Dax sighed, a wiped his brow, "S.T.O.R.M. was looking all up and down the river back there, and would probably spot us as soon as we step foot down there."

"But the second they see us out here we have nowhere to go!" Bren said, frowning. Beyal had to agree with Bren, but didn't find the need to voice it. When he woke up (at least what felt like waking up), Bren and Dax explained that S.T.O.R.M. had shown up sometime in the night and had either caught Chase and Jinja, one of them, or neither of them. For some reason or another, Dax was now leading them towards a town that was getting ever so closer.

"No, because what they're looking for, are those monsuno," Dax said, still walking ahead, "That's the only reason they're out here after all. We just happened to be in the area."

Bren stopped walking, and Beyal ended up walking into him. He was about to apologize when he saw the look that Bren was giving Dax.

"... Bren? Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Wait a second Dax. How do you know what S.T.O.R.M. is looking for?" Bren asked suspiciously. Dax stopped, and turned around. His expression was unreadable for a second, before it turned more casual.

"Eh... Lucky guess. After all, isn't that what they're always after?" he said shrugging lightly, "now c'mon. We better get out of this heat before S.T.O.R.M. decides to start coming this way."

Bren wasn't entirely convinced from the look on his face, but kept walking anyway. Beyal stood for a moment, pondering a bit. Bren, after all, never did place his full trust in them, even after all these months. Beyal bit his lip when he tried to think back to the past few hours, maybe there was something that happened within the time that made Bren more suspicious. All he could think about was what happened to the rest of the group.

Did they really get split up by S.T.O.R.M. like Bren had said? And what about Don Pyro? Apparently he had taken the man down single handedly, so why couldn't he remember? Just trying to recall everything was making his head spin even more...

He reached down to his belt and took a hold of Glowblade's core, letting his fingers graze against the glass. There was an unsettling feeling coming from inside, though it was hard to tell from what. It was almost as if Glowblade was trying to get out, or even warn him.

"... Hey! Beyal! Hurry up!" He looked up quickly to see that the other two were far ahead.

"Oh. Coming!" He called back, putting Glowblade back on his belt. They continued to walk for what felt like hours, when it could have easily been minutes. Within that time, Dax had stripped himself of his jacket, tying it around his waste and was left in a tank top. Beyal simply flipped his cloak's hood up and over his head for shade. Bren on the other hand...

"Ugh! I don't like the look of those vultures," Bren grumbled, looking up at the four birds that were now circling overhead. His face and neck had gotten extremely red within the time they were walking, and he refused to take his jacket off so the rest of his body wouldn't end up the same. But that just left him with sweat drenching his clothes. What's more, he seemed even more stressed.

"Just ignore them, they'll pass when they see something dead," Dax said. He didn't seem quite as bothered by the desert heat. After all, he did grow up in a similar climate, even if it was a few degrees cooler.

"... They seem awfully high up," Bren continued, staring up as they kept walking.

"It's fine."

"... I wonder how big they are if they're so far up-"

"Not that big."

Bren kept staring, still holding the Core Tablet above his head, despite it being fully charged at this point. With a peeked curiosity, Beyal looked up as well while Bren continued to ramble on.

"I don't think I've ever seen a vulture before up close-"

"They're not that great."

"... I wonder what they'll do if we die out here-"

"Would you stop focusing on the damned birds already, Glasses!" Dax snapped and they all stopped for a moment. It was amazing that he lasted so long without a melt down with Bren talking, "We're not going to die out here. The town's literally a few miles ahead of us. We just have to muscle through it."

"... That's easy for you to say," Bren grumbled when Dax started to walk again.

Dax let out a sigh and turned around.

"Listen. You may not have had to deal with this type of situation before, but the only way we'll get out of this is if we keep going. There's no way around it," Dax said bluntly. Bren continued to pout regardless. It was then that Beyal noticed that one of the birds didn't look quite like the others.

"Um... guys-"

"I can still complain can't I? It's not like I'm hurting anyone."

"Your hurting my sanity is what your doing," Dax retorted, and scratched his neck, "Well. What's going to be left of it."

"I can't help it if the situation you put us in is now leading us to our untimely death," Bren said, a bit hysterically, "With those scavengers just waiting for us to drop!"

Beyal squinted, and saw that the other birds had flown away, while the other bird was getting larger. No. Not larger. _Closer._

"Uh... Guys. There really is something up with the bird-"

"Stay out of this monkfish," Dax snapped, and turned back to Bren, "You didn't have to follow me you know. At any time you could've suggested something other route. Or is it you can't do anything without you precious little tablet?"

Bren immediately clung to the device, "That has nothing to do with it!"

There was a shrilled cry from above, and Beyal ran towards the other two, pushing them right over a large sand dune and making them all tumble down just as a giant shadow soared close by.

"Monkfish what the hell!" Dax exclaimed when they reached the bottom.

"I really don't think _that_ is a vulture," he said, pointing up at the sky. When the other two looked up, they gasped when they saw the familiar shape of an owl diving back down at them.

"Crap! Let's go!" Dax shouted, and bolted off. Bren fumbled with the Core Tablet, but jumped to his feet before charging after him. After a moment, Beyal took off after them. This was probably a rogue monsuno that the others were talking about. The last time that happened, he heard a strange ringing, almost like a voice, before falling unconscious.

_"..."_

The monsuno screeched before letting out bursts of air from its wings. The three boys were picked up off their feet from behind and tossed into the mounds of sand.

"Bleh! Stupid desert!" Bren spat, and took ahold of Neo-Quickforce's core.

"W-wait a sec Glasses!" Dax said, taking a hold of Bren's wrist before he could spin out, "The last thing we need is S.T.O.R.M. heading this way."

The giant bird swooped down again, narrowly avoiding the two arguing. Beyal was still on the ground, unsure of whether to start running again, to get ready for an attack, or stay low enough so that it wouldn't see him.

"If we don't do something, that thing'll eat us alive!" Bren said hysterically. Dax looked up at the monsuno, which had started going higher into the air, most likely preparing for its next strike. He kept looking back at the town, which had gotten considerably closer in their short run.

"S.T.O.R.M will be here any minute. We have to be clever about this," Dax said, "If we get caught, then-"

"Then what? We won't get to trek through this blasted desert anymore? Cause I really wanted to see the rest of all the sand!"

There was a high-pitched screech that silenced the two, making them all grasp their ears. Beyal felt the ground rumble around him, and when he peeked out from his hood, the monsuno was standing a few feet away from them. It let out large gusts of wind with it's massive wings. Dax and Bren were swept off their feet once again, and landed apart from each other.

Before anyone could react, the monsuno swept over to Bren. He only stare up in wide-eyed horror as the monsuno twisted and extended it's neck in a disturbing manner and let out a shriek at him.

"Bren!" Dax exclaimed.

_"…"_

"... Ah!" Suddenly, there was a pressure in his chest that made Beyal double over and clench it. Almost as if there was something trying to escape from within his heart, splitting it. Sound suddenly became muffled, and his sight became blurred, though he could faintly see Dax trying to take out the monsuno on his own.

"_... Stop."_

His breath hitched. It was the voice from before. Without another word, he felt his consciousness being ripped away, as if tearing his very soul away. Before he could even react, he was suddenly flung back into the recesses of his own mind.

* * *

><p>AN: Review Review Review!


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: Thanks to KaimelarTheDreamer, ChasexJinjaForever, and ilicsm or the reviews.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p><em>"... Chase."<em>

_He gasped, remembering that call. He turned away from the unknown monsuno and S.T.O.R.M. and instead looked to the far side where the Strike Squad once stood. The familiar white gown he had seen in dreams was floating by the edges of the cliffs._

_"... This way," she said in a whisper-like call. His feet moved on their own, and his eyes never left her in case she should vanish like before. Despite the yelling and roars, sound became dulled as he went into a sprint towards her. The closer he got, the sadder her expression seemed to become._

_"Don't move!" someone said behind him. He didn't care. She was only a few feet away after all. Hands suddenly found their way around his waist, and when he kicked and struggled out of their grasp, something hard came down on his head._

_His vision blurred and got dark, but he fought to stay awake as she continued to watch over as always._

_"... Chase," she said, voice still crystal clear. Everything went black after that, though he was sure he was still awake, but barely at that._

_Movement. He was being moved. But to where?..._

_..._

_..._

_..._

"_... Chase...!" _

He slowly eased his eyes open. The world was dark all around. No light in it at all.

"Where... Am I?" Chase muttered to himself, trying to move but failing. It was like he was falling, falling into this vast darkness all around. Funny. It didn't feel like he was falling. How did he even get here? The last thing he remembered was-

Chase gasped, and suddenly felt wide awake. He was facing down Alpha and the rogue monsuno when S.T.O.R.M. had shown up. At one point Jinja was there, and they needed to find the others...

But then... _She_ appeared.

"... Jinja?... Bren?" he asked, looking around, only to see darkness. He let out a sigh, but then saw something. There was a faint light in the distance, and he followed it, floating along lazily. It was a small circle of light on some sort of floor a few feet below him. It felt warm and fuzzy being near it, and, curiously, he stepped on it.

He was surrounded by a warm wind that tossed his hair lightly in the air. The circle expanded, lightening the world around him. Immediately, he recognized the grass and sky, and the tree in the distance with the small stone plaque under it.

He jogged over, though it was hard to move for some reason, as if moving through water. As he got closer, a figure slowly came into view. Long chestnut hair was flowing softly in the breeze with the long white gown. Those (blue) eyes were glistening as she smiled at him.

"Chase," she said. He slowed, and came to a stop when he was a few feet away from her, the shade of the tree reaching his feet.

"Mom," he said with a smile, "I can't believe your here! Wherever here is."

She let out a laugh, "This is where visions are made, and where you will find guidance when you need it. You have been here before, I might add."

He blinked. That's right. He was here once before in his dreams. She was here before as well, in almost all of them.

"Does that mean... You're always going to be here?" He asked hesitantly. Her expression fell, and she looked to the ground.

"I'm afraid not. I can only reach you when _they_ aren't watching, and when you are more in tune with your monsuno sight."

"They?"

"The Hand of Destiny," she looked up with a serious expression, "my son. There has been a disturbance. The Hand of Destiny are on the move to capture a new source of monsuno essence. And I'm afraid if you don't stop them, then you and your friends will be in danger."

"W-wait! Slow down! I don't get it. The Hand is only after me and Beyal, and they failed almost every single time. And what do the rest of my friends have to do with it?" Chase asked. She took a few steps forward until they were arms length apart.

"You know of the legend you are part of don't you?" she asked, "the legend about the Five Original Tribes?"

"Yeah, sort of. The Hand of Destiny claims to be them," Chase said, crossing his arms, "they are the ones who control monsuno essence. Right?"

She shook her head slowly, "No. While they have lived nearly forever, they are not the original wielders of monsuno energy. For you see, there were no controllers of monsuno until your father had made it possible."

"Well. That's dad for you," Chase chuckled. He should've expected as much since Locke was one of the first that this father had made. The only other people to really create monsuno would be S.T.O.R.M., Dr. Klipse, and Dr. Tallis, all of whom had done work with his father before.

"Chase," he looked up, "While they are looking for users of the monsuno sight, they are looking for the original sources of monsuno energy. If only because of me..." she trailed off, holding her hand close to her chest.

"Wait. What do you mean because of you? And what monsuno energy?" he asked.

"All the times that they had failed to capture you... It was because either I or someone else had interfered, all of which have the monsuno sight," she looked down. For a moment, she took a step forward and raised her arms a bit, as if afraid to embrace him. She quickly retracted them, and instead wrapped her arms around herself and looked away, "It's only made them go to drastic measures..."

He blinked, taking in what she said. This whole time they had been running from the Hand, but had no real idea of why. At first he thought it was because of his monsuno sight. But now...

"So... Is it your fault that they're after me?" he asked hesitantly.

"Of course not!" She said immediately, then quickly softened her expression, "They would be after you regardless... I only wanted to keep you safe from them."

She trailed off again, looking to the sky, which had started to turn a bit gray. The air had also seemed to get colder, even though he couldn't feel anything at all before.

"So... What are they trying to do now?" Chase said. The sky darkened even more, and the wind started to pick up, rustling the tree behind her.

"You and others with the monsuno sight are their targets, as you know. But if that doesn't work, they plan to go back to the beginning-"

Thunder suddenly rolled overhead, and the wind started to whip harder. She gasped at the change, and then took a few steps back.

"You have to leave, now!" She said.

"What? Why?" He asked, taking a few steps forward as well. The wind made it harder to stand, and he almost fell when he stood in front of her again.

"Because of that large wave of monsuno energy that was released, the Hand of Destiny haven't been able to track you down or know where you are right now. If they catch you here..." her expression turned grim as she bit her lip, "... Please Chase. I don't want to see you get hurt by them."

"But you can't go back to them! I won't let you!" Chase said, taking her hands in his. She smiled briefly before replacing it with a serious look.

"Please Chase. I've been keeping you safe for as long as possible now. And soon... I fear that won't be able to-"

"Wait. What do you mean?... You can't be saying-"

"Chase! You have to leave now!" She said, slipped her hands out of his, and pushed him backward with great force. Instead of hitting the ground, he started falling.

"No! Mother!" He cried as he reached out desperately. He was falling, falling into the darkness from before as she watched with a distraught look, fading into a green light. Time seemed to slow down as he fell, and found himself drifting back into a sleep-like state.

HLP

A metal fist came crashing down on the table. It had been well over fourteen hours, and the useless Punk Monks had yet to page in about their progress.

"N-N-Next time I Sh-sh-should just go out on m-m-my own!" Dr. Tallis said. The screen continued to blink and beep as it had been for the past hours, but there had yet to be any changes at all. Was there something that he was missing? Drezz and the rest of those useless rats should've said a lot more since the last time they spoke.

He looked up at the screen, weaving his fingers together in front of him in thought. What _was_ with the message that he got? Something about strange and violent monsuno, and then the Punk Monk's own monsuno suddenly going wild.

"It was probably a m-m-malfunction in their systems," he concluded. That was the only answer he could come up with. After all, they were man-made monsuno that were more on the artificial side, there were bound to be a few kinks in their systems. He would have to look at them when the Punk Monk's get back.

There was a beep. He glanced up to see that there was another message. About time something happened!

"Dr. Tallis-" It was Drezz speaking, though it was hard to tell with static phasing the message, "Suno was taken to S.T.O.R.M. a few hours ago."

"You fools!" Tallis exclaimed, "D-Don't you k-know that the reason I s-sent you was so that d-didn't happen?!"

"Y-yeah. Sorry about that," Drezz replied, "It's just that... Well..."

Dr. Tallis paused, "... What? What else happened?"

Drezz was hesitating on the other side, though that might of been the static, "Well... There were a few people that showed up. A lot actually."

"Did you confront them?"

"No. For the most part."

Dr. Tallis narrowed his eyes, "... For the most part?"

"There were these three guys that spoke to a few of them. And then another group that looked like they were from S.T.O.R.M., but didn't attack until late into the night. But by then S.T.O.R.M. helicopters had shown up. As well as... Another one."

"Another one?"

"Another monsuno sir."

Dr. Tallis leaned back into his chair. So there were more out there, not just the one at the S.T.O.R.M. base...

"... Go. You have to retrieve the one at the southern base. Whatever happens, none of the other monsuno can fall into S.T.O.R.M.'s hands," Dr. Tallis said, "if Charlemange learns about what those monsuno really are, then we'll be further from our objective! If something comes up, I'll alert you all immediately."

There was a short beep, and the call was ended. That wasn't the true reason he had to get those monsuno away from S.T.O.R.M. That reason was one that started years ago. Back when he had first discovered those ruins...

He looked down at the picture in his hand of the excavation, back before he had become reliant on his machines to survive. A variety of people were standing in the picture, mostly scientists, and behind them were large rocks with indentures on the surface. Anyone who knew of the folklore surrounding monsuno would recognize the markings as those from the Five Tribes (not that he cared about that particular legend).

No. What really interested him was the translation.

"To claim the absolute is to claim the dawn," he said, staring intently at a certain line. After that release of monsuno energy, it was only a matter of time. Leaning forward, he started to furiously type, intending on finding the other sites. Knowing those Punk Monks, he would have to make them go to the next site instead of going to .R.M., especially if he wanted to get there before anyone else.

MLD

Drezz stood there for a moment after the call, and sighed deeply.

"Well? Did you tell him?" He turned around to see the rest of the Punk Monks sitting in the cave that they were in. They had yet to leave the area that Suno was previously in, unsure of who to follow at this point.

"No. He didn't want to know about what happened," Drezz said, and pocketed his communicator, "He wants us to get the monsuno out of S.T.O.R.M. directly."

"Drezz. You should've told him about those freaks from before," Throttle said, crossing her arms with a huff. Drezz couldn't help but agree. After Suno was taken to S.T.O.R.M. and the soldiers cleared out, another group of people happened to come along...

…..

_"They're moving. Should we go?" Tinker asked. They had stayed hidden in one of the many caves in the cliffs as S.T.O.R.M. had approached the area. The rogue monsuno had disappeared in a flash, leaving the soldiers baffled. Instead, they opted for taking Suno and his friend, most likely to the base._

_"No. Let me get a hold of Tallis first," Drezz said. Before he could get his communicator, there was a gasp. He looked up to see both Throttle and Ratchet looking behind them. When he looked as well, there was a group of hooded figures standing a few feet behind them._

_"Wh-Who are you?" Tinker said, taking a hold of his core immediately. One of the figures looked at them all, before settling their eyes on Drezz._

_….._

_"_We ought to pay back those creeps," Rachet said, clenching her core. Drezz let out a sigh and stood up.

_"_That doesn't matter," he said, and reached for Afterburn's core, "with S.T.O.R.M. on the move, we have to hurry. Especially with Dr. Tallis even more on edge."

The last thing they needed was to cross the doctor again, especially with their objective so close. Those hooded creeps would have to wait another day for a rematch. Even after the Punk Monks defeat.

"Let's go."

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><p>Review Review Review!<p> 


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Thanks to KaimelarTheDreamer, Myra the Sark, and ChasexJinjaForever for the reviews.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>The sound of electricity buzzing was the only sound in the room besides the faint sound of metal clicking and the occasional small curse. Fluorescent light from above gave the room a bluish tint. Jinja had woken in this place, hands cuffed above her on a pipe that ran through her cell. There seemed to be many cells along the hall, including across from her, but all were silent and empty.<p>

"Erg... C'mon...!" she said under her breath, bending a small bobby pin into one of the keyholes. She had been working since she had woken up, trying to get the metal cuffs off so that she could find Chase.

She stopped for a moment. Was he even here? Did they take him to another base? Or even straight to Charlemange? And what about the others? Were they here as well? She sighed, knowing that the only way to find out was to escape before anyone else showed up.

There was a low moan in the cell to her left that made her stop again. She held her breath, trying to listen to who it was.

"… Is someone there?" She asked not too loudly. There was another moan and shifting sound.

"… ugh… mom… come back…"

Jinja let out a sigh in relief. Chase was right next to her. At least that meant that Charlemange hadn't separated them. It was a bit odd that Chase would be dreaming about his mother right now, but then again, weirder things had happened to them. She looked back up at the metal and started picking at the lock again.

It was hard to tell how much time had passed since she had been working on getting the damned handcuffs off. There weren't any windows either, and no one came down the hall yet, so it could've only been ten minutes for all she knew. Still, Chase continued to talk in his sleep throughout the whole time. He was probably just having a nightmare like before-

She held her breath. Last time he had a violent nightmare, the Hand of Destiny was trying to capture him and Beyal. She looked down, eyes cast to the ground. What if it _was_ a nightmare like before? Sure Chase would be alright since the Hand wouldn't just attack S.T.O.R.M. But what about Beyal? The only one with him was Bren (and he isn't exactly the brawniest of the bunch that's for sure). The Hand could've gotten them both by this time, or worst.

"… I hope you're all alright," she said.

She looked back up to the cuff and went back to work. Once a while back, Dax showed them one of his many 'talents' with lock picking when they needed a place to stay for a night in an abandoned town. She didn't get to see very clearly, but got the gist of how he managed to do it.

_"-at least I am straight with people. You can't even find the gull to out right say your feelings, to any of us."_

She bit her lip, remembering the last time she saw the lowlander and how tense it was. She griped the bobby pin a bit tighter. Sure there were some tender moments between her and Dax, but there were many times that they didn't click, if only because of how distant he was. Of course it didn't help that she felt easier in expressing her feelings to Beyal. He was a lot more honest and easier to read.

… How many times had she and Beyal kissed now? Twice? Maybe she was just moving too fast. But then again, maybe everything that has happened up to this point has just been in the moment. After all, she couldn't really picture herself with either of them after this whole ordeal. Sure they would all still be friends, maybe even work for Core Tech together, but would it ever be more then that?

Jinja let out another sigh. She really did complicate things in that brief minute with Dax. Next time she sees him, she'll clear up the whole thing. It was just a misunderstanding.

At least that's what she kept telling herself as she continued to work on the small lock.

GDL

He had walked quite a long ways back into the canyon and along the edge of the river, ignoring his own thoughts on disobeying his father. It was mostly out of curiosity did Six decide to wander away from the old man and back into the cavern that Chase Suno and his friends were in before.

Ever since speaking to the red haired girl did he get the strange feeling. No. He had the feeling ever since coming to this place of endless sand. It was only when they came to the river did he realize why.

There was a sound. A faint call from far away, and Six needed to find the source of the soothing voice. He had never heard of such a melodious sound before. Of course he wasn't alive for very long, but that didn't mean he wasn't the least bit curious about the unknown. He had followed it along the river for quite a while now, but didn't care too much about danger. His father _had_ trusted him with a monsuno of his own this whole time, despite some discrepancies from the old man (he never liked him anyway). Six was sure he could managed anybody he would meet.

After walking some more, the sound had gotten considerably louder. He was sure he had gone a few miles down the river, maybe even close to the ocean at this point. There was a faint sound of trickling water ahead that confirmed his suspicion.

He started to jog down that way until he reached the end of the river that turned into a waterfall. Instead of seeing the ocean, there was a large lake that was deep in the earth. The sides of the cliffs stretched out so that the lake was partially covered, and it was obviously larger then the enormous hole that he could see through. He stood at the top of the waterfall that poured down into it that was at least a hundred foot drop.

"Strange. I don't remember seeing a lake on the map," he said to himself. From above, it most likely looked like part of the river. It was then that he realized the sound was coming from below. He couldn't see along the shores, or if there was someone nearby. Which meant only one thing-

"Six!"

He looked behind him, and could see the old man running along the path towards him. The other man was also with him (he didn't like that guy either).

"_… Chase…"_

He blinked. There was now a voice that he could hear as if the person was right next to him. Looking around, he heard the song become louder. Taking a breath, he dove off down into the water, the shouts of the other two trailing behind him.

It was a strange rush of feeling to be suddenly surrounded by cold water after walking in the desert for so long. Refreshingly pleasant actually. He came up to the surface, and saw that the lake actually stretched out below the cliffs, like an underground lake.

"It was probably concealed until those tremors," Six concluded, looking up at the ceiling that had parts missing. It wasn't very sturdy, so it was only a matter of time of this place being discovered. He could even see some cracks still appearing on some parts.

There was a splash and gasping noises, and when Sx looked over he saw the other two swimming a few feet away from him.

"Gah! Why would you do that old man!" the crazier man said. The butler only gave him an annoyed look before turning to Six.

"Let's go Six. We have to report back to your father now-"

"But there's someone here," Six said, and started to swim away towards one of the edges. He could hear the singing much more clearly down here, but that may have also been the echoes.

"Six! Get back her right now!" the old man nagged. The other man also cursed under his breath. When he got to the edge of the lake, Six hoisted himself out and looked around. There were many caves and caverns that stretched even farther in. He couldn't even see the end, the tunnels seemed to stretch into the shadows themselves.

"How odd," he said. He kept trying to locate the sound of the soothing voice, almost as if it would show a sign.

"Listen boy!" Hargrave said, marching up to him completely soaked, "Klipse is going to want you back at the lab by the end of the day. While I could care less about what he's doing, the last thing _I_ need is another nuisance to look over!"

"What are you talking about 'another nuisance'?" Don Pyro asked, raising a brow, "I'll have you know that as soon as we're out of this blasted place I'm gonna-"

"_Chase!"_

Both Six and Hargrave gasped at the sound, and turned towards one of the farther caverns. They both stared intensely, ignoring the spouts of the black haired man. There was a faint flicker, and Six took off again.

"W-wait! Get back here!" Hargrave shouted. Six continued to ignore him, and charged into the dark tunnel. Whatever was in there, it was looking for Chase, which only meant he was going to show up. The light got brighter, and soon the figure came into shape.

It was a woman in white surrounded by a glowing light, whose expression quickly turned to confusion once she saw the teen. It was strange, she seemed… familiar.

"_Who are you?_"

HLP

Chase let out another low mutter in the cell over, and started to make even more sounds. Jinja paused to listen, noticing how loudly he had gotten with the last few minutes.

"…ngn… Where… Where am I?" he said groggily.

"Chase? Are you awake now?" Jinja asked, feeling some of the tumblers in the lock finally loosening. There was shuffling before he responded.

"Jinja? Is that you?" he asked.

"Yeah. It's me," she said, and decided to stop for the moment, taking a hold of the bobby pin between her fingers and slipping it out of the lock.

"… Where are we?" He asked.

"It's safe to say... Probably the S.T.O.R.M. base," Jinja said. At first she couldn't tell, but then figured that they were probably taken down to the Southern base, since it was the closer one. She heard Chase give out a sigh.

"That's what I though…" Jinja bit her lip. Chase started to shuffle more, most likely cuffed to ceiling as well.

"Do you... do you think the others are here?" Jinja asked hesitantly. She hadn't seen the others except Dax that previous night, and even then she lost track of him after their fight. Chase also didn't seem too concerned with the other two either, fighting Alpha rather casually.

"I don't think so," Chase said, more clinks of metal resounding in the hall, "If they wanted to keep us separate, they wouldn't have put you and me together-ow!"

"Chase? Chase are you alright?!"

"Yeah. Just cut myself on the handcuffs," He sighed, "I'm pretty sure I'll live. Though I'm not sure if that's a good thing with Charlemange around."

There was a pause. Chances were, Charlemange was on her way over to the base now, no doubt intending on 'interrogating' them to find Dr. Suno. The last thing they needed was to lead S.T.O.R.M. back to Chase's dad.

The thought of the man suddenly reminded Jinja about Chase's mumblings from before.

"Chase… What were you dreaming about?" she asked.

"What?"

"You kept saying something about your mom. Did you see her in another vision?"

Chase paused, and it was hard to tell whether he was thinking or hesitating on what he wanted to say. He didn't immediately respond, and it became silent after that. Did he really not want to talk about it, or was he keeping something from her? A minute later, the sound of a door opening echoed throughout the hallway before she could ask. Footsteps were approaching them, and Jinja could feel a bead of sweat come down in anticipation. Another cell to her left opened and shut, and then the footsteps went away. It was only after the door closed again did they speak.

"What was that about?" Jinja asked, "You think they caught someone?"

"Don't know," Chase said, "Hey! Is there anyone in there?"

There wasn't a response, and he let out a sigh.

"I guess not... Anyway, Jinja. You think you could get your hands out?"

"I've kinda been working on it for a while now," Jinja said, slightly annoyed. She took a hold of the bobby pin once more and went back to work. She wanted to ask Chase more about what he was saying before, but knew from the silence that it was something he didn't want to talk about.

After all, she had things that she didn't want to talk about.

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><p>Just to be clear, Jinja's still referring to the kiss. There's no other random secrets I'm throwing in there that's O.C. besides the actual events in the series and currently in the story.<p>

Review Review Review!


	22. Chapter 22

A/N: Thanks to Myra the Sark, KaimelartheDreamer, and ChasexJinjaForever for the reviews!

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>The day was now well into the afternoon, probably close to sunset in another hour or so. The skies had turned grey overhead, making it hard to see the sun and dimming the area even more. The air was warm, with the threat of falling rain. S.T.O.R.M. soldiers had taken over the village, sweeping the streets and raiding through the buildings. It was a rather old port-side village, so it wasn't too hard for the three teens to push their way through. It also meant there were plenty of places to hide in as well.<p>

"Coast is clear!" Bren whispered, after looking down the street for a whole minute. Slowly he stepped out, looking down even more of the narrow paths just in case. When he turned around, Dax had stepped out, carrying Beyal on his back.

"Can you believe it? Not one guard has spotted us yet!" Bren said enthusiastically, "Usually by this point we would've alerted at least one or two and sent the whole city up in a commotion."

"That doesn't mean we're in the clear though," Dax said snappishly, "We still need to find a place to hole up in till we can find Chase and the princess."

"Yeah I suppose," Bren frowned, and started leading the way down the street, "But can you believe out luck? Only when we get to the outskirts of town does Beyal decide to pass out again."

Dax looked over his shoulder at the monk, who's cheeks were red and flushed again. He kept going in and out of consciousness like before, but was trying to stay awake.

…..

_"__Bren!"Dax shouted as the owl monsuno towered over the teen, who laid petrified and was trying to shrink down into the sand. This was it. This was the end, getting eaten by a rogue monsuno, what a way to go._

_Something flew by and struck the monsuno straight in the face. It ruffled it's face, and screeched angrily at Dax. The offending object tumbled down and landed right next to Bren, who blinked in realization._

_"__Dax! Don't just throw the Core Tablet!" He exclaimed._

_"__Not now!" Dax shouted as the monsuno shot a beam of light at him. It narrowly missed, but cause the large sand dune behind them to collapse down, sweeping Dax off his feet._

_Using that moment as a distraction, Bren quickly grabbed the Core Tablet and bolted out from the monsuno. It's elongated neck twisted around and caught sight of him, quickly giving chase. Looking back for a split second, the monsuno had now extended out and was only a few feet from snapping Bren in half with it's sharpened beak._

_Out of nowhere, Beyal kicked straight into the monsuno's face and knocked it away and off it's feet. Bren stumbled a bit and landed on his behind, surprised by the sudden appearance of the monk. Before he could say anything, Bren watched as Beyal stood in front of him as the monsuno recovered a bit. He continued to dodge the attacks by the monsuno and deliver his own swift hits. Bren would've thought of it as unreal if he hadn't seen Beyal do the same thing that morning to Don Pyro._

_Entranced by the scene, Bren could only watch as Beyal soon had taken out both of the monsuno's legs, leaving it hobbling on the ground. In response, the monsuno hooked its beak on Beyal's robe, and threw him in the air. He twisted around midair, avoiding the monsuno's bite and aiming straight for one of it's slightly extended wings._

_There was a sharp 'SNAP!' when Beyal's foot struck down on the monsuno's wing with a curved kick. It let out a shrill cry of pain before reeling back in pain. Wasting no time, Beyal ran straight over to Bren and jerked him to his feet. He did the same to Dax, who was still struggling to get out of the sand. Taking both their wrists, Beyal ran forward and far away from the monsuno. Throughout the whole time, Bren stumbled to stay on his feet, not being able to match with the monk's swiftness, but they didn't dare stop._

_…__.._

Dax turned back to Bren, shifting his shoulders a bit, "Again, let's just find a place to stay before S.T.O.R.M. decides to come out and play."

They went down a few more streets, only stopping when a soldier or two would march by. Luckily, they found a bar that was on the less popular side of the village that wasn't getting second looks by the soldiers.

"Alright, that's probably a good place to start," Dax said as the two of them poked out from the corner. They were in an alley next to an inn that had a clear view of the entrance.

"Remember. Be discreet," Bren said as Dax lowered Beyal to the ground. As much as he hated relying on Dax, street talk wasn't exactly his forte, and they had to find out fast whether or not Chase or Jinja were seen. Otherwise, they were most likely taken by S.T.O.R.M.

"Sure thing Glasses," Dax said, jogging off into the doors. Bren watched as he disappeared inside, but couldn't see much farther then that since the windows were opaque with dust and cobwebs. Sighing, Bren slumped onto the wall, slowly sliding down till he was sitting next to Beyal.

"You really do have impeccable timing, you know that?" Bren grumbled. As soon as they ran into the range of the city and spotted the S.T.O.R.M. blockades, Beyal had collapsed. Although, Bren honestly thought it was from exhaustion, seeing that he practically carried the two of them across the desert when they were running. The monk winced a little before slowly opening his eyes.

"I am sorry... for the inconvenience..." He muttered breathily. Bren continued to look around before turning back to the white-haired boy. Normally he would've responded bitterly (or snarky if it was Jinja he was talking to), but there was just something about being left without Chase or Jinja that left him feeling... vulnerable. Especially after what happened an hour ago. The last thing he needed was to start a fight with these two and become stranded in the middle of the desert with no way of getting back to his best friends.

"Ehh... Don't worry about it," Bren chuckled lightly, but stopped when more soldiers came around the corner, running off into the city. There were shouts about a monsuno sighting, but there was nothing more then that.

'Is it the same monsuno? Or maybe Chase or Jinja?' he thought. It was probably the owl monsuno, no doubt wanting revenge. There was no way Chase or Jinja would be rash enough to start a fight in the middle of a city taken over by S.T.O.R.M.

"... I hope you guys are okay," he muttered, thinking about his best friends. The group had separated from Chase in many instances, but Bren had never separated from both Chase and Jinja in a critical situation before. And with everything going on in the world (and that way too close encounter a few hours ago), he wanted to see the two of them now more then ever.

Slowly, he took out the Core Tablet, and typed up a quick message to Dr. Suno.

_To Dr. Suno, We are currently in the eastern desert still. A storm has hit the coast, and S.T.O.R.M. and the Punk Monks have been more active. It seems to all be related to the strange amount of monsuno energy that's been released. Chase and Jinja have been-_

He was cut off when the front entrance to the bar was blown to pieces. He pushed the send button and quickly turned around and let out a loud yelp at the sight of the giant plume of smoke that erupted. People came out, shouting and running in all directions as it went up in flames, including Dax.

"I thought I told you to be discreet!" Bren shrieked. Dax had bits of char on his face, and was more then a little flustered.

"I was! Until _they_ showed up!" he said, pointing back at where the bar once was. As some of the dust and smoke cleared, a familiar red monsuno stood in its place.

"Well, well. Isn't this a nice surprise!" A woman's voice purred from in the flames, "And here I thought the boys and I wouldn't find a challenge when coming to this dinky little town!"

Bren's eyes widened, "It's-"

HLP

"… Where are you mom," Chase said under his breath with a sigh. He and Jinja had been silent well over a couple of minutes, except for the sound of Jinja picking at the lock of her handcuffs.

There was a groan, followed by the sound of shuffling. He sucked in a breath, but it quickly became silent again, and Chase let out a sigh. There was a pause in the metal clinking coming from Jinja's cell, but quickly continued.

He wanted to say something, especially about his vision, but Chase couldn't bring himself to find the words. Even though they had known each other as kids, there was no way that Jinja would know what he was feeling. His mom had disappeared years ago, leaving him with an empty feeling. Jinja, and even Bren, wouldn't understand that type of loss. Even trying to talk to someone like Beyal about the vision would be a little odd, seeing that the monk grew up in a temple rather then a regular home. Maybe he would talk to Dax when they meet up again. He seemed to have an idea of what was probably going on, especially when it came to-

There was a loud thud in the cell to his left, followed by low curses.

"Is someone there?" he asked somewhat quietly.

"Ugh... Damned soldiers..." someone cursed, and continued to mumble lowly, "Stupid... Idiot... Gonna kill that-"

Chase cleared his throat. "Um... Hello? Is someone there?"

"... Chase Suno?" A surprised but familiar voice said.

"_Drezz?!"_ Chase exclaimed. He recognized that voice now that it was less of a whisper. "What are you doing here?!"

In the cell next to him, there was the sound of shifting clothes, and then a chuckle.

"I guess you got caught too eh?" Drezz said, "I guess it makes sense since we left you to your own devices."

"What do you mean 'to our own devices'? And what are you even doing down here?" Chase asked. There was more shifting in the cell. Drezz probably wasn't handcuffed like they were, seeing that Charlemange would be more worried about their escape then the Punk Monk's.

"... Was just doing some investigating. Got separated from the rest of my crew. Ended up here," Drezz said, "I didn't think you would be getting yourself caught though Chase Suno. S.T.O.R.M. too much for you to handle?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Jinja huffed from Chase's right. She seemed more on the edgy side at this point, most likely because of the lack of sleep. Chase did find it odd that Drezz had shown up here as well, but there was no harm in finding out information. it would be playing into their plan, but if it meant getting out of here quicker, it was worth it. After all, he did need to get out of this place as soon as possible. _She_ was waiting for him.

"So Drezz," Chase started, "What was it that Dr. Tallis wanted us to find here? Something about a monsuno right?"

GLM

Drezz went on for a bit, talking about what S.T.O.R.M. was probably planning and what he was doing there. Jinja couldn't hear as clearly as Chase could though since she was farther down, and had lost interest long ago. She knew that she had to focus on the lock at this point, especially with Charlemange on her way.

"Erg... C'mon!" She muttered to herself. This was now getting too frustrating. How did Dax even manage to do this? It also didn't help that the angle was a rather awkward one, with her having to look up the whole time. Her neck started to ache a bit from the strain, and her wrists were definitely chaffing from the metal cuffs.

She almost gave up, but heard the tumblers loosen with a satisfying 'click!'. Immediately, she felt relief on her right wrist.

"Finally," She sighed, and went to work on the other. She stopped for a moment when she heard Chase start to talk.

"I know what you mean... I... My mother was taken from me by the Hands of Destiny..."

Jinja frowned. Since when did the conversation become about them? Maybe she should've tried to listen more (but then again, she could get all the answers she wanted once those blasted cuffs were gone and they were out of this prison).

Before she could finish unlocking the other cuff, the doors to the hallway opened.

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><p>AN: On hiatus until further notice.

Until then, Review Review Review!


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